Extended school year (ESY) is district-provided education that takes place during the summer. For most schools, it takes place for roughly 4 weeks, often in June and July. Typically not every school site in your district will offer ESY, but every district is required to offer ESY services to students who qualify for those services.
Students who qualify for ESY meet eligibility requirements. Under California’s rules, the student must demonstrate:
-The student’s disabilities are likely to include indefinitely or for a long period of time
-Interruption of the student’s educational program may cause regression
-The student has limited recoupment capacity. Recoupment is the amount of time it takes to regain the prior level of functioning, and
-The factors above make it impossible or unlikely that the student will attain self-sufficiency and independence without ESY Services
In some cases, your child can still qualify for ESY where there is a “lack of clear evidence” of the above factors. There are exceptions. The “lack of clear evidence” of the above factors may not be used to deny a student ESY if the IEP team meets and determines the need for ESY and writes it into the IEP.
The special education and related services offered to your child during the extended school year must be comparable in standards, scope, and quality to the special education program offered during the regular academic year. Schools may not limit ESY services to specific categories of disability nor unilaterally limit the amount, type, or duration of those services. ESY school days are typically shorter in length than during the standard school year. Districts will often use this as an excuse to reduce services such as speech, OT, etc. We have had good results with pushing back on this, and maintaining service levels over ESY.
The teacher may not be the same as during the standard academic year, and some schools take their programs more seriously than others. It is worth signing up for ESY if you think that it may be useful for your student.
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