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🧩 Special Needs & Special Education Homeschooling in Colorado
What Colorado offers homeschool families of children with disabilities or learning differences — special-needs scholarships, evaluations and services — from our Colorado guide and articles.
Other Colorado programs: college aid, driver's licenses and special education
Special education: CDE's homeschool FAQ tells families to contact their school district about services for special populations. Colorado law says a home-based program is not a private school (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(2)(a)). Ask your district of residence in writing for a child find evaluation if you suspect a disability, and ask how it serves homeschool students with IEPs; part-time enrollment can be one route.
Read the full section in our Colorado guide
Special education for home-based students
Child find: Colorado's special education rules require each administrative unit (usually a school district or BOCES responsible for running special education locally) to have procedures for locating, identifying and evaluating all children ages 3 to 21 who may have a disability and be eligible for special education. The procedures must be available throughout the year, including to children whose parents choose home schooling (ECEA Rules, 1 CCR 301-8, Rule 4.02(1)(a)).
Which district: for a child who isn't enrolled in school, child identification is the job of the administrative unit where the child lives. Child identification covers child find, special education referral, the initial evaluation and the decision on disability and eligibility (Rule 4.02(1)(a)(ii)). CDE's model plan for districts lists home-schooled children among those the administrative unit of residence must locate, evaluate and identify.
Evaluations: once a written special education referral has started, the initial evaluation must be finished within 60 calendar days. A referral starts when you request an evaluation, or are told of a referral by the school, and you give written consent. The timeline doesn't apply if a child is repeatedly not brought for evaluation, or moves to another administrative unit's school partway through (Rule 4.02(3)(c)).
Services: CDE's model comprehensive plan for districts (revised March 2015) says an administrative unit does not have an obligation to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to children who are home schooled, and lists them separately from children their parents place in private schools. CDE's homeschool FAQ tells families to contact their school district with questions about services for special populations. Ask your district's special education director in writing whether it offers any services to home-based students who qualify, and what they would be.
Part-time enrollment: part-time public programs for homeschool students must follow the same laws as the local education provider that authorizes them, including licensed-teacher and background-check rules (SB26-023, as explained in CDE's part-time program FAQ). CDE's homeschool and part-time pages don't explain how an IEP works for a part-time student, so ask the school or program before you enroll which special education services it will provide during your child's hours there.
Preschool: for children ages 3 through 5, contact the Child Find office where your family lives. CDE says the evaluation is free, as are the public school system's educational services for children who qualify, and that an evaluation can't happen until you give written permission. Agreeing to an evaluation doesn't mean agreeing to services.
Help: CDE's Exceptional Student Services Unit answers parent questions at Parents_ESSUquestions@cde.state.co.us. CDE also posts a directory of each district's special education and gifted directors.
Read the full section in our Colorado guide
Official sources
- Homeschooled Students admissions (Colorado State University)
- Rules for the Administration of the Exceptional Children's Educational Act (1 CCR 301-8) — Colorado State Board of Education
- Model comprehensive plan for the provision of special education — CDE
- Special education parent FAQ — CDE Exceptional Student Services Unit
- Find your special education and gifted directors — CDE
- Referral for special education evaluation, ages 3–5 — CDE
Summarized from our Colorado guide (as of October 2026) and articles. Rules change — confirm on the official pages before you act.
More for Colorado homeschool families
- Colorado Homeschool Laws & Requirements
- How to Start Homeschooling in Colorado
- Colorado School Choice, ESAs & Scholarships
- Homeschool Sports & Activities in Colorado
- Dual Enrollment & College for Colorado Homeschoolers
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