5 Things You Should Know About ESY
Extended School Year is one of many services that a student can access on an IEP, but like every other service, whether your child should have ESY is entirely dependent on their unique needs. ESY is a unique service and there are several things you should know about it before you and your IEP team talk about it’s need.
ESY Can Vary State by State
The federal law does not dictate exactly how each state can determine if a student qualifies for ESY, but these standards are often a part of district’s criteria.
(But first… It is vital to remember that multiple federal courts have made it clear that a single criterion cannot be used as a only qualifying factor. )
Regression/Recoupment: While many districts continue to use this as the primary factor for ESY consideration, this is just one of the several criteria that a school district can use. If a child demonstrates a decline in knowledge or skills as a result of an interruption in learning and is unable to regain those lost skills in a reasonable amount of time once school resumes, they might benefit from an extended school year. The IEP team should be collecting data to show that this is a need.
Emerging Skills: If a student is in a critical stage of developing a new skill, like learning to read, and interrupting that development will result in the skill being lost, then this should be considered when determining if a child should have ESY.
Nature and Severity of the Child’s Disability: This should always be a consideration when determining if ESY is appropriate.
Parent’s Right to a Review or Appeal: The IEP team should meet early enough in the year to ensure parents have adequate time complete an administrative review or file an appeal if needed. The IEP team should document the discussion of ESY eligibility at each annual IEP review.
ESY Services Content and Duration: If a student needs the service during the school year, they cannot be denied it in ESY. Some students might need these services to be continued over the summer and others might just need more of a consultation model with professionals.
Parents’ Ability to Provide Educational Structure at Home: If parents can provide educational structure at home, the severity of regression/recoupment may not be as severe. If parents are not able to provide educational structure and the student needs specialized staff, then ESY may be needed.
ESY is Not a Blanket Service For All Students
ESY is based on each student’s individual needs. Just having an IEP does not automatically mean the child needs an extended school year. With that said, the district cannot limit who has access to ESY based on particular categories or disabilities. They also cannot limit the nature, content, or duration of services unilaterally.
ESY Should be Individualized For Each Student
Your child’s eligibility category doesn’t determine the types of services provided in ESY. The programming for ESY should be designed to meet the unique needs of each child, just as the IEP is designed.
ESY is Designed to Maintain Current Skills
ESY is not the place for learning new skills. We are focusing on the critical skills that are at risk for regression. It is a strategy used to shorten the time needed to regain skills that might be lost during a period of time away from school. The goal is to get the child back to the same level of skill mastery they achieved at the end of the school year.
ESY Can be Delivered in a Variety of Settings
This one comes as a surprise to many people. While ESY can be done in a school based structured setting, that is not the only way. ESY can also be in a home based setting with the parent teaching and school staff consulting, school based with community activities, and/or related services being given alone or along with the above models.
ESY can be a valuable tool for students. Is your child’s IEP team considering multiple factors?
