ESY services are individualized special education and/or related services that are uniquely designed to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to a student with disabilities as mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
ESY services are provided to a child with a disability that are:
- Beyond the normal school year of the public agency
- In accordance with the child’s IEP
- At no cost to the parents of the child
- Determined by the child’s IEP team
It’s important to understand that ESY services are not the same as:
- Summer School
- Compensatory Services
- Enrichment Programs
ESY Tips
- ESY is NOT summer school. Repeating ESY is NOT summer school!! IDEA is clear that ESY determinations are individual determinations & must be made based on detailed information relating to the child that is NOT limited to how much regression might occur. Requirements for specifying the content and duration of ESY programs were strongly stated in the Reusch v. Fountain decision. The court mandated “…individualized determinations of the number of weeks, days per week, and hours per day that each student receiving ESY should be provided”.
- IEP teams are to consider whether the child is in the midst of acquiring a new skill & whether summer services are required to take advantage of a window of opportunity for learning the new skill as well as the ability of parents to provide programming.
- ESY programs are not one size fits all. Sometimes ESY may only consist of related services & no academic services. ESY does not always have to take place in the school environment. The law is clear that schools can provide services in other locations. In addition to in district programs & services provided in community settings, private out of district summer programs may be necessary to meet students’ needs.
- Decisions about ESY should me made early enough in the year to allow parents adequate time to exercise their right to a review or appeal in a timely fashion.
- ESY services should not be limited. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) issued a policy letter stating that limiting the duration of summer programs for students with disabilities “…would violate the basic requirement that programs be designed to meet the individual needs of each child” (Letter to Baugh, 211 IDELR 481, 1987).
The most widely used criteria for determining the need for ESY services are regression and recoupment. This involves two findings:
- The IEP team must determine if the student is likely to lose critical skills during the time when services are not delivered which is called regression.
- If the likelihood of regression is established, then the IEP team must determine whether the time the student will require to re-learn the skills lost which is called recoupment is excessive, particularly when compared to the time it takes a nondisabled student to regain skills lost during a school break.
However, regression and recoupment is not the only criteria to use when determining the need for ESY services. In Reusch v. Fountain, the court listed five other factors in addition to regression and recoupment that the IEP team should consider in deciding if a child is eligible for ESY.
Below are other criteria to discuss when discussing need for ESY services:
- The critical point of instruction/breakthrough of an emerging skill must also be discussed. This is the point at which a student has almost mastered the skills in an instructional sequence. As the need for ESY services is discussed the IEP team must determine that if a break in instructional programming would result in the loss of significant progress made toward the acquisition of a critical or emerging skill.
- Is there a behavior concern? The IEP team should discuss if there are behavior concerns that interfere with learning and if a disruption in behavior support will risk an increase behaviors when a student returns to school in the fall.
- If little or no progress has been made on IEP goals then ESY can be used to help close any gaps on critical skills. ESY is not to continue instruction on all IEP goals. The focus of ESY should be on critical skills where regression due to an extended break may occur. Remember the purpose of ESY is not to provide a child with education beyond what is outlined in his or her IEP goals.
- The nature and severity of the child’s disability should be considered when determining eligibility for ESY. No disability category may be excluded from consideration for ESY, however, the nature and severity of a child’s disability is a key factor in the ESY eligibility determination. Children with severe disabilities are more likely to need ESY services because their regression may be more significant as well as their recoupment of skills may take longer.
- Special circumstances which interfere with child’s ability to benefit from special education.
Statute of IDEA Explaining ESY
300.106 Extended school year services.
(a) General.
(1) Each public agency must ensure that extended school year services are available as necessary to provide FAPE, consistent with paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
(2) Extended school year services must be provided only if a child’s IEP Team determines, on an individual basis, in accordance with §§300.320 through 300.324, that the services are necessary for the provision of FAPE to the child.
(3) In implementing the requirements of this section, a public agency may not—
(i) Limit extended school year services to particular categories of disability; or
(ii) Unilaterally limit the type, amount, or duration of those services.
(b) Definition. As used in this section, the term extended school year services means special education and related services that—
(1) Are provided to a child with a disability—
(i) Beyond the normal school year of the public agency;
(ii) In accordance with the child’s IEP; and
(iii) At no cost to the parents of the child; and
(2) Meet the standards of the SEA.