Preparing for Summer Extended School Year Services
A blog for families
All Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are required to document if your child receives Extended School Year (ESY) services. Usually this is a small checkbox or short statement within the IEP that may be easy to miss. All students who have an IEP are not guaranteed ESY services, nor do all need it. If your child qualifies for ESY service, they are provided at no cost.
What is ESY?
Extended School Year means individualized instruction occurring beyond the school year, usually during school breaks, that help prevent skill loss.
How is ESY determined?
Two common factors IEP Teams review when determining eligibility for ESY services are regression and recoupment. Regression is the risk of your child losing learned knowledge and skills and recoupment is the amount of time it takes your child to recover the learned knowledge or skills they may have lost over the school break. Other factors are included in ESY eligibility decisions, such as but not limited to: mastery towards IEP goals, self-sufficiency and independence, severity of disability, etc.
How do I know if my child qualifies for ESY services?
All ESY eligibility decisions are IEP Team decisions that involve you in the decision-making process.
If your child qualifies for ESY services, the district will reach out to you to discuss how your child’s ESY services will be provided. If you have not heard from the district about ESY services within 1 month of the school year ending, connect with your child’s IEP Case Manager to get more information.
You are not required to access ESY services if your child qualifies for them, but they are recommended to work into your family’s summer schedule as these services will help your child continue to make progress towards their IEP goals.
A gentle reminder to families is that ESY services might not be provided at your child’s school of attendance or with their familiar special education teacher and/or service providers (i.e., Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, etc.). Also, not all ESY services may be provided in person.
ESY services are not just during summer break. They can also occur over other school vacations, such as winter and spring break. This is also decided by the IEP Team.
If you are unsure if your child qualifies for ESY services, reach out to your child’s IEP Case Manager or request an IEP Team meeting.
Blog Photo Credit: Hillary
Photo Location: Westport, WA
