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OVERVIEW TO PART 279 (as revised Effective January 1, 2017)

  1. If you need more time to prepare and serve an Answer, you may ask for a specific extension of the timelines.  This allows the State Review Officer to move the decision timeline and, in turn, extend the timeline in which you must serve an Answer.  You must request an extension before the date your Answer is due.

  2. Your extension request for an answer must be in writing, addressed to the Office of State Review.  You must also send a duplicate copy of your request to the school district's attorney when you send it to the Office of State Review. 

  3. Your extension request should include:

    • the good cause reason why you need the extension of time. Examples of good cause often include good faith settlement negotiations, serious medical procedures and catastrophic events, but reasons such as vacations, general travel plans, and workload considerations alone are rarely considered good cause;

    • whether your child is currently receiving special education services either from a public school district/institution or from a private school/institution/provider. It is useful if you can briefly describe to the State Review Officer the current special education services that your child is receiving, if any, and if the services are being provided under pendency (also called stay-put);

    • whether the the school district, agrees with or opposes your request for additional time.  For this reason you must contact the school district's attorney before filing your extension request to ask if the district will consent or oppose your request for more time and then write in your extension request to the Office of State Review whether the school district consented to or opposed the extension.  If the roles are reversed and the parent is the petitioner, a school district must follow the same process for seeking an extension of time; and

    • it will help the Office of State Review with processing your request if you briefly describe the outcome of the impartial hearing officer's decision being appealed.  Examples of outcomes are "the IHO granted my request for tuition reimbursement" or "the IHO granted a portion of compensatory education that I requested, but denied payment for an independent evaluation of my child" or "the IHO granted my request for an order for pendency services for my child."

  4. When filing requests for extensions, it is common for parties to seek extensions of time in two-week increments or less because State Review Officers do not customarily grant extensions in longer increments.

    • As of March 2023, you are strongly encouraged to electronically file any extension request(s) using the secure, encrypted e-File System instead of mailing or faxing them to the Office of State Review. The e-File System features on-screen and e-mail messages to the address you provide and confirms successful transmission of your filings to the Office of State Review.  The Office of State Review e-File System is powered by a software product called HighQ, and the automated messages are generated from a highq.com e-mail address. In order to receive e-mail confirmation messages from the e-File System, please be sure any spam or junk filters  you have do not prevent you from receiving e-mail messages from highq.com.

    • If you use the e-File System, one option you have is to create your own extension request document and upload it to the e-File System. But under that option you are responsible to send a copy to the opposing party, typically the district's attorney.  Alternatively, after filling out the extension request questionnaire in the e-File System, a document can be automatically prepared and filed for you and a copy returned to your e-mail address for your records.  Under the automated option, a copy of your request will also be automatically sent to the e-mail address of the opposing party that you provide in the questionnaire.  Regardless of which option you choose, as noted above, you still need to contact the other side before the request to the State Review Officer and ask whether there is consent or opposition to your extension request.

  5. The State Review Officer will inform both parties in writing whether your request will be granted based upon the circumstances of the case.

  6. You may use the following form if you wish to prepare your own document  (Form G/ Form G).