extended school year (ESY)

bichon1

New Member
How does a child qualify for extended school year? My difficult child is getting remedial reading and math for 3 days a week for 5 weeks this summer. It's a program that the district got Title I money for, but on his iep he does not qualify for extended year.He gets remediation thru his classroom because he's in a self-contained BD classroom. He goes with-an aide to regular classroom for science and social studies, but has not extra accomodations in those classrooms. I thought since he's 2 grade levels behind in reading, math , and writing he might get extended services, but school psychologist said no. His behaviors in the classroom are pretty good, but he's getting rude and sneaky. His Special Education teacher doesn't know how to motivate him to improve. She says we've used medication changes as an excuse all year, but we have been trying to find the right combination all year, so it has been a problem. Anyway just wondering what extended year services entails and how to get it.
 

Sheila

Moderator
ESY is a decision to be made by the IEP Committee -- not a lone school district rep. Typically, sd's are more receptive to EYS if the child has reflected regression over the summer. But, that's not the only reason for EYS.

From: www.wrightslaw.com

THE LAW LIBRARY: EXTENDED SCHOOL YEAR SERVICES
Several hot battles have been fought over extended school year services. We've added an ESY case to the site.

In Reusch v. Fountain, 872 F.Supp. 1421, 21 IDELR 1107 (D. MD 1994),


a federal court addressed the school district's "hostility to providing ESY." In this case, the court found that parents were prevented from advocating for their children by the district's refusal to provide parents with notice about their right to request these services. The district also engaged in delaying tactics by requiring parents to attend futile meetings.

The court found that, in this district, administrative convenience took precedence over providing FAPE to children with disabilities. Educational decisions were not individualized according to the needs of the child.

In Reusch v. Fountain, the court listed six factors that the IEP team should consider in deciding if the child is eligible for ESY as a related service. These six factors include:

1. Regression and recoupment - is the child likely to lose critical skills or fail to recover these skills within in a reasonable time;

2. Degree of progress toward IEP goals and objectives;

3. Emerging skills/breakthrough opportunities - Will a lengthy summer break cause significant problems for a child who is learning a key skill, like reading;

4. Interfering Behavior - does the child’s behavior interfere with his or her ability to benefit from special education;

5. Nature and/or severity of disability;

6. Special circumstances that interfere with child’s ability to benefit from special education.

Citing Pete’s case, Florence County School District Four v. Shannon Carter,

the District Court wrote that

In any contest between systematic efficiency and the provision of FAPE to a disabled child, Congress and the Supreme Court have made it clear that the child must prevail.

You can learn more about it at www.wrightslaw.com and http://www.ed.gov/ .

As the parent, you can call an IEP meeting at any time.
 

Lizz

New Member
Hi.....

Just wanted to summarize what Alisha doucmented so well for you.....

IF a child experiences REGRESSION (all kids do) over the summer to the extent that it cannot be RECOUPED at a reasonable rate (usually 2-3 weeks) at the beginning of the school year, the child Qualifies for ESY.

OK. This also applies to social skills and social/emotional issues that are being addressed during the school year with social work or counselling services. Many EBD kids will qualify for ESY becuase the actual structure of a school day is necessary in order to avoid behaivioral setbacks that take an unreasonably long period of time to correct in the fall.

So, if you believe that this applies to your child, you should be able to discuss the issue at an IEP meeting. Many times this is brushed over becuase the sd may not offer their own program and the avoid it for budgetary reasons.

SDs have been know to pay for placement in park district programs if they are comperable. They may also place students in programs that neighboring disticts allow them to "buy into" during the summer. By the same token, I have had school districts pull their studnents from year-round school programs to put them into shorter (read less expensive) districts stating that they deliver comperable services----during the summer----then they expect them to jump right back into the therapuetic day program they were pulled from for 10 weeks---with no problem. So, go figure!

I hope that this shines some light on the situation for you. IF you need further info, let us know!

Lizz
 
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