2460.03 - EXTENDED SCHOOL YEAR SERVICES FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS
Sec. 35. "Extended school year services" means special education services that:
are provided to a student with a disability:
beyond the normal school year of the public agency;
in accordance with the student's individualized education program; and
at no cost to the student; and
meet the standards of the State education agency.
Determining Extended School Year Services
Each public agency shall ensure that extended school year services are available as necessary to provide free appropriate public education. A public agency may not limit extended school year services to particular categories of disability or unilaterally limit the type, amount, or duration of those services.
Individualized education program; components. An individualized education program shall contain the following: A statement of the student's need for extended school year services.
ESY Services and the Case Conference Committee's Role
Since ESY services were not defined in the Federal regulations until the promulgation of the final regulations implementing IDEA '97 case law and Federal policy letters have provided much of the guidance regarding factors to be considered by the CCC in determining a student's need for ESY services. Some of these factors identified by the courts include:
Critical learning needs
Degree of progress on IEP goals
Least Restrictive environment (LRE)
Independence from caretakers
Emerging needs and/or break through learning opportunities
Regression and recoupment
Interfering behavior
Severity of the disability
Special circumstances
Federal and State special education regulations do not require all students with disabilities to receive ESY services. However, a determination of the need for ESY services must be made for every student with a disability. Such determination is made by the CCC on an individual basis and must be reviewed at least annually. The CCC's determination of the student's need for ESY services cannot be limited to summer months when school is not in session, but may include other periods during the regular school calendar when school is not in session.
The CCC's consideration of ESY services should be made in a timely manner so that the school and the parents can make necessary arrangements for the student's participation. Under some circumstances, the need for ESY services may not be known at the time the IEP is developed. In that case, the CCC can identify the date it will reconvene to determine needs and services to be provided in the IEP. The CCC may also identify the data that will be gathered to assist in making the subsequent determination and document that data collection plan in the IEP. As noted in the commentary and analysis of the Federal regulations "public agencies are expected to ensure that these determinations are made in a timely manner so that children with disabilities who require ESY services in order to receive FAPE can receive the necessary services" (Federal Register, Vol. 64, No. 48, March 12, 1999, Attachment 1, p.12576.) Decisions about ESY services may not be postponed solely on the basis that no formal regression/recoupment data currently exists. The case conference committee should make its determination on the best evaluative information and data currently available, including predictive data.
ESY services often are provided during a time when a full continuum of education services is not normally available. The school is not required to establish programs to ensure that a full continuum of educational placements is available solely for the purpose of providing ESY services. ESY services may look different from the student's regular school year services. Extended school year services may be provided in various locations and through various service delivery options as determined by the CCC. If the CCC determines that interaction with non disabled peers is required, the school may provide the student with services in an integrated, non school setting.
Summer school is not the same as ESY Services. Summer school is a discretionary program that is typically operated on a set schedule for a number of weeks during the summer. While participation in discretionary summer school is available to student's with disabilities, if the identified ESY services for the student include participation in summer school, it (summer school) must be included as part of the student's IEP
Determining a Student's Need for ESY Services
General Procedures:
The CCC must consider a student's need for ESY services in the context of that student's IEP, individual needs, and the provision of a free appropriate public education.
Consideration of a student's need for ESY services must include a variety of factors (e.g. progress on IEP, history of regression or lack of recoupment of a critical skill, prediction of regression of lack of recoupment of a critical skill, loss of independence from caretakers, likelihood of more restrictive placement, break through learning opportunity, special circumstances, etc.) However, the actual determination that a student needs ESY services may be based on a single standard.
Under some circumstances, the CCC may not be able to determine the student's need for ESY services at the time the CCC is convened (e.g. the CCC convenes in the fall and wants to wait until later in the school year to make the determination of need for ESY services). In this case, the CCC needs to include in the CCC Report /IEP the date it will reconvene to make the ESY determination, as well as the plans for collecting data or other information in the interim.
The CCC meeting during which the determination of need for ESY services is made should be conducted sufficiently in advance to permit the school and the parent to exhaust administrative remedies (if necessary) prior to the time when ESY services would be expected to be initiated.
Using the Extended School Year Services Decision Making Guide.
*The CCC may use this form to determine a student's need for ESY services.
Part I: The CCC should review and consider the questions posed as the first step in determining a student's need for ESY services. These questions do not need to be addressed in any particular order and are designed to assist the CCC in looking at the type of critical skills the student is working on, the student's progress or lack thereof, any expectation of regression or difficulty with recoupment, any opportunities for learning that may be lost or significantly delayed, special circumstances unique to the student, and other factors that may impact the student's need for ESY services. The questions in italics have been provided merely as a means of helping the CCC frame its responses to the original question and are not exhaustive.
In answering and considering the questions posed, the CCC should utilize a variety of information, such as current and previous IEPs, progress reports, medical reports, attendance and discipline reports, historical and anecdotal information about the student's potential for regression and recoupment, information on the student's behavior, recent evaluative data, parent reports, and any other information relevant or necessary to the CCC's decision making.
Examples of supporting documentation and information the CCC may review include, but are not limited to:
The student's current and previous IEPs
Progress reports on IEP goals
Other reports (e.g. attendance, pre and post test data of student's progress, observations and anecdotes of student's experience before and after interruptions of service; nature or severity of student's disability, regression and recoupment analysis, medical/other agency reports, etc.)
Behavioral information (behavior plans, logs, discipline reports, etc.)
Information from parents on student's maintenance of skill level or behaviors or effect of interruption of services
Observations and opinions by educators, parents, and others who work with or have contact with the student
Test results, including criterion-referenced tests, curriculum-based assessments, life skill assessments, and other equivalent measures.
PART II: The CCC should utilize the information resulting from answering the questions in Part I, as well as any other relevant information, to determine:
if the student will or is likely to experience a regression in the mastery of one or more critical skills, as well as difficulty in recouping that level of mastery within a reasonable period of time;
if the student is at a critical point or window of opportunity for acquiring a skill; or
if there are special circumstances that make ESY services necessary to the provision of a free appropriate public education to the student.
Regression/Recoupment
If the CCC determines that the student will or is likely to experience regression in his/her level of mastery of one or more critical skills, the first box should be checked.
If the CCC determines that the student will or is likely to experience difficulty in recouping that level of mastery within a reasonable amount of time when services resume, the second box should be checked.
The CCC should consider a student who will or is likely to experience both a regression and difficulty in recouping one or more identified critical skills in need of ESY services.
Break-Through Learning Opportunity
If the CCC determines that the student is at a critical point (a "window of opportunity") for acquiring a skill that would be lost or significantly reduced if services are not extended, the first box should be checked.
If the CCC determines that student is at a critical point of acquiring a skill because behaviors that previously interfered with the student's acquisition of that skill have been diminished to a point that a "window of opportunity" is available to the student to acquire the skill, the second box should be checked.
The CCC should consider a student eligible for ESY services when the absence of ESY services is likely to result in the loss of "window of opportunity" for the acquisition of one or more identified critical skills.
Special Circumstances
There may be special circumstances or factors, unique to an individual student, which the CCC needs to consider in determining a student's need for ESY services as part of the provision of a free appropriate public education. There is no exhaustive list of these circumstances or factors although a number of them are listed in Part II of the Decision-Making Guide. It is impossible to list all of the potential special or unique circumstances or factors that may impact a student's need for ESY services. Therefore, the CCC should consider those circumstances and factors unique to the student, regardless of whether it is included as one of the items in Part I or Part II of the Decision-Making Guide. The CCC may make a determination that the student is in need of ESY services by identifying the special circumstances or factors that went into the committee's decision.
Critical Skill(s) Affected
If the CCC determines the student requires ESY services as part of a free appropriate public education, it should identify the critical skill or skills to be addressed by the ESY services
Completing the IEP
The CCC should complete the IEP to indicate whether the student is in need of ESY services. Attaching the Extended School Year Services Decision-Making Guide and/or the Determination of Extended School Year Service Needs for the IEP will help to document the factors the CCC considered in determining whether the student required ESY services.
If the student is to receive ESY services, the CCC should identify the goals and objectives that will be the focus of the ESY services and indicate the initiation and duration dates, as well as the length, frequency, and location of the special education services to be provided.