How are Extended School Year (ESY) Services Determined?
It’s spring and the end to this most challenging school year is in sight! Hopefully we can all look forward to a more relaxed summer and the return to a somewhat typical pre-pandemic way of life. For many students who receive special education that includes Extended School Year (ESY) services during the summer.
ESY should be discussed with your child’s IEP Team at least once annually and answer the question, “is it required to provide my child a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)”?. This decision must be made on an individual basis and take into consideration the unique needs of your child, including their academic and related service needs (PT, OT, speech and language, etc.).
Many school districts will tell you that ESY is only to “prevent regression”. Documented regression, or the likelihood of regression, can certainly be part of the equation however there are other factors that can and must be considered.
Before we get to those factors, it’s important to know that ESY is not only provided in the summer. It can include any day or portion of the day that isn’t a regularly scheduled school time, such as vacation weeks, before or after school, holidays, etc. and the principals of the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) still apply.
In MA, the Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has provided parents with the Q&A Guide on Special Education ESY. This document clearly states that regression and recoupment must be considered when determining ESY and explains what questions should be asked to assess both factors. Broadly, (see the Q&A for more details), regression means considering if your student would regress more than the amount that would be expected for any student. Recoupment means considering of whether or not it would take your student longer to regain skills than it would for students without disabilities.
DESE: “Any decision regarding needed ESY programming must take into account the child's history of significant regression and limited recoupment capability. In other words, a child's Team must look backward and forward when considering the need for ESY programming.”
The additional factors that can be considered by the team are:
• the degree of the child's impairment
• the parents' ability to provide structure at home
•the child's rate of progress
• the child's specific behavior and/or physical problems
• the availability of alternative resources
• the child's ability to interact with non-disabled children
• the specific curricular areas in which the child needs continuing attention
• the vocational and transition needs of the child
• whether the service requested is "extraordinary" rather than usual in consideration of the child's condition.
DESE: “Only when all factors are considered together by the child's Team can a determination be made as to how much service will be offered.”
If your child receives transportation to school during the school year, they should also be provided transportation during ESY. “If a child depends on transportation to benefit from ESY services, then transportation must be provided” (Letter to Baugh, 1987).
ESY is a Team decision and always remember as a parent you are part of the Team.