ESY - what do I need to know? and do?

[Ally]

My 8yo in G2 gen ed hasn't been offered ESY before but I'm learning that she qualifies from her last IEP meeting as someone brought it up. Is there supposed to be an assessment for ESY? I'm wondering why she didn't qualify before if school did perform an assessment, as she would. That's the past. Now I'm focusing on what I need to know about ESY. And what questions to ask or what I'm to do before or during ESY. During school year, my daughter receives 1:1 PCA. Do all services in IEP transfer to ESY? I understand that it's 4 days for 4 weeks with bus transportation but not more than that at the moment. I'd like to be prepared to discuss about ESY at next IEP meeting. PS: I tried searching "ESY" "extended school year" in the search button in this forum but result returmed 0.

[Carolyn Rowlett]

Under the IDEA, the requirement for ESY is "as necessary to provide FAPE," which is rather vague.  Most state departments of education will define this in more detail, such as if "regression" can be shown or if the child is "significantly behind."  So I would first start with your state department of education to see if they have defined any criteria.  Then I would ask for the school district's local policy on eligibility for ESY, if any.  If someone stated she "qualifies," what are they basing that on?  I would want specifics for future reference.

I've never heard of an assessment just for ESY services.  It's usually based on documentation of regression over a break (summer, winter, and/or spring) and evaluations already conducted pursuant to the IEP process.

To answer your specific question: Not all services have to transfer to the ESY - only the ones whose area meet the criteria, such as regression or significant gap.  Also, do not confuse ESY with a school's regular summer school (which is probably what you're referring to when you state "4 days and 4 weeks").  ESY is completely separate from summer school, does not have to conform to the same times and dates, and could even be 5 days and all summer, depending on the needs of the student and whether the school district or state has limited it by policy and/or regulation.

[JSD24]

My school district has standardized ESY.  They have 4 half days a week for 5 weeks for most students and 6 weeks of full days for high-needs students.  Depending on the need, you child might not have all of their IEP goals worked on during ESY.  If your child has a 1:1 during the year, she likely will need one this summer.  My school doesn't finalize ESY until a few weeks before it starts as they need to know which students & teachers will be going to ESY to figure out what makes sense to be doing.

[JSD24]

I thought I had included this link:  https://adayinourshoes.com/extended-school-year/

This forum is relatively new which is why there isn't a lot on ESY.  (It started out as a Facebook group but Facebook was flagging comments and deleting posts - like a child coming home from school with bruises - because it went against their standards.  That is when this forum started.)

Not all goals will be worked on and ESY isn't so much for forward progress as it is to prevent regression.