You mentioned it to the teacher at pickup. You brought it up again at the fall conference. Everyone nodded, agreed your child could use some help with speech, and then nothing happened. Three months later you're still waiting, because a conversation in the hallway never started anything the school is required to act on. Under federal law, only a written request for evaluation starts the clock.

That distinction trips up more families than any other part of the process, and it's the one worth getting right first.

Why Talking to the Teacher Doesn't Start the Clock

A hallway conversation, an email that just says "I'm a little worried about his speech," or a comment at a conference creates goodwill but no legal obligation. The school can act on it, or it can quietly slide to the bottom of a long list. Nothing requires a response within a set number of days.

A written request that specifically asks for a special education evaluation is different. It triggers the timeline in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which means the district has to respond, has to seek your consent to evaluate, and then has a fixed window to complete that evaluation once you consent. The federal floor is 60 calendar days from consent, though a number of states set their own shorter timeline, so check yours if you want the exact number of days you're working with.

What to Put in Writing

The letter doesn't need legal language. It needs three things: your child's name and school, a clear statement that you are requesting an evaluation for special education services, and today's date. Something like this covers it:

"I am requesting a formal evaluation of [child's name] for speech and language services under IDEA. Please send the evaluation consent form and let me know the next steps."

Send it by email if that's how your school communicates, and keep the sent copy. Email is enough, a certified letter is not required, but a text message to a teacher's personal phone is too easy for a school to say it never saw. If you're not sure who should receive it, address it to your child's principal and the special education coordinator by name. A school office can always tell you who holds that title.

What Happens After You Send It

The district has to respond, typically by scheduling a meeting or sending you a consent form for evaluation. Sign and return that consent promptly. Nothing moves until you do, and the clock for the evaluation window doesn't start until your signature is on file.

Once the evaluation is underway, a speech-language pathologist assesses articulation, receptive language, expressive language, and often fluency as separate domains rather than one general check, and that separation is what makes the results useful. A child who talks plenty but struggles with comprehension needs a different plan than a child who understands everything but can't yet produce the sounds, and the difference between a speech delay and a language disorder shapes what the evaluation should be checking for.

If Your Child Is Under Three

The process above applies to school-age children through the K-12 special education system. If your child is younger than three, evaluation and services run through early intervention rather than the school district, under a separate part of IDEA built for infants and toddlers. The written-request principle still holds. Contact your state's early intervention program directly rather than the local school.

What Comes Out of the Evaluation

If the results show your child qualifies, the school will propose either an Individualized Education Program or, less often for a speech-only need, a 504 plan. The two serve different purposes and come with different levels of service, and knowing which one fits your child's needs before that meeting means you're not learning the difference in real time while a team hands you paperwork.

If the School Drags Its Feet

If weeks pass with no response to your written request, follow up in writing again, referencing your original request by date. If that still goes nowhere, ask your district for a copy of its procedural safeguards notice, a document every district is required to provide, which spells out your right to escalate through the state education agency or request mediation. Most delays resolve once a written record makes clear that a parent knows the timeline exists and is tracking it.

Send the request in writing today, not after one more conversation that goes nowhere. That single step is what turns a vague hope that someone will look into it into a process the school has to follow.