Parents who suspect their children have disabilities near the end of the school year may not be able to secure the care needed in a timely manner.
This resulted after Governor Katie Hobbs’ recent veto of House Bill 2375. The bill would have required school districts to evaluate students suspected of having disabilities in a more timely manner when their parents submit a written request for evaluation between May 1 and August 15. Current state rules allow districts 15 school days to either initiate the evaluation process or send a written refusal notice; the bill would have modified that timeline to require districts to respond within 15 days.
Hobbs cited staffing and funding concerns in her letter of explanation for the veto. The governor argued school districts shouldn’t have to start the evaluation process over the summer for students with suspected disabilities.
“This bill fails to recognize the realities of public school staffing over the summer and provides no financial support for adequate implementation,” wrote Hobbs. “Additionally, I am concerned that this will impact the quality of evaluations due to the lack of classroom observation.”
The bill passed out of the House and Senate along party lines. Democrats opposed the bill for reasons similar to those given by Hobbs: not wanting to require more of teachers as “unfunded mandates.”
The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provision known as “Child Find” requires states to identify and evaluate children who may need early intervention or special education services.
Former State Board of Education member Jenny Clark inspired creation of the bill after consulting with her state representatives about her family’s experience securing a Child Find evaluation under the current required timeline of districts.
Clark attested that she was one of many other families who couldn’t receive an evaluation because of current rules allowing districts 15 school days rather than just 15 days to respond. As a result, Clark and other families had to wait out three months of summer to begin the evaluation process.
“By the time the fall school year rolled around, we had to file a STATE COMPLAINT because, you guessed it, the district forgot about our request. By the time we got the evaluation completed and the results showing our child qualified under #ChildFind — over 100 days had passed,” said Clark. #HB2375 was designed to HELP Arizona families whose kids are struggling and they suspect a disability to get evaluated under IDEA and Child Find not be hindered by AZ rules stopping summer evals.”
Clark argued that the perceived inconvenience of adults shouldn’t outweigh the needs of children with suspected disabilities, per Hobbs’ explanation of her veto.
Dem @GovernorHobbs Vetoes HB #2375 for special needs evals under #ChildFind, smacks families in the face seeking answers for their struggling students. @usdoe and @EDSecMcMahon should investigate because they fund these evals!
AZ families can NOT get evaluated in summer: 🧵 pic.twitter.com/TOCWYfLYFj
— Jenny Clark (@ClarkRimsza) May 7, 2025
Clark and other parents, including Educational Freedom Institute founder Matthew Nielson, say they want the Department of Education to investigate Hobbs’ veto.
“Someone is giving Governor Hobbs some really bad advice here (resulting in a veto) and it’s definitely worth ED’s time to look into this, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon,” stated Nielson.