Extended School Year
Extended School Year (ESY) is special education and/or related services provided beyond the regular school year. ESY is provided for those students who have an IEP and will be severely impacted by an extended break in instruction, and meet ESY criteria. ESY typically runs from end of June to beginning of August.
Eligibility for ESY services is determined by the child’s Planning and Placement Team at the annual review. The PPT team must consider whether a child needs extended school year services in order to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE). This determination must be done on an individual basis. Services, service hours, and the number of weeks is determined by the PPT team.
Extended school year services is the exception and not the rule for students receiving special education and related services. The following criteria are used when the PPT is determining if ESY is appropriate for a child.
-
- Nature and Severity of the Child’s Disability – Children with severe disabilities are more likely to be involved in ESY programs, since their regression may be more significant, and their recoupment may extend over a longer time.
- Regression – will the child’s skills and/or knowledge regress to such a degree over the summer that it will be difficult to bring them back to the achievement level obtained in the prior school year
- Recoupment – will it take an inordinate amount of time for the child to regain prior level of functioning.
- Special Circumstances – The IEP team can identify special circumstances that may warrant ESY for a child.