Extended School Year
Our first Ask the Advocate question has come in and this is a really great question.
Before I get into my answer to the question I am not an attorney, I don't play one online (not even a little bit) and the information that I am going to provide is not legal advice nor a replacement for legal advice if you need it.
Q: "My eight year old son has autism and is third grade. Another parent told me about the Extended School Year Program and I wanted to learn more about this as it was never offered to us. I asked about it and we have a meeting scheduled in April to discuss if he qualifies.
Thank you"
A: Extended School Year or ESY is the provision of academic and related services provided to a qualifying student with a disability outside of the school day. This is not limited to summer and is an IEP team decision made on the following
As the Pennsylvania Code (22 Pa. Code §14.132(a)(2), and §711.44(a)(2)) requires, Extended School Year determinations can be based on the traditional regression/recoupment criteria as well as other factors, such as:
The extent to which the student has mastered and consolidated an important skill or behavior at the point when educational programming would be interrupted.
The extent to which the student reverts to a lower level of functioning as evidenced by a measurable decrease in skill or behaviors which occur as a result of an interruption in education programming (regression).
The extent to which the student has the capacity to recover the skills or behavior patterns in which regression occurred to a level demonstrated prior to the interruption of educational programming (recoupment).
The extent to which the student’s difficulties with regression and recoupment make it unlikely that the student will maintain the skills and behaviors relevant to IEP goals and objectives.
The extent to which a skill or behavior is particularly crucial for the student to meet the IEP goals of self-sufficiency and independence from caretakers.
The extent to which successive interruptions in educational programming result in a student’s withdrawal from the learning process.
In relation to your information you have provided - if your child has eligibility for an IEP under the eligibility criteria of Autism he falls into what is called the "Armstrong Group" of students. The Armstrong Group is comprised of students with disabilities such as
Autism/pervasive developmental disorder.
Serious emotional disturbance.
Severe intellectual disability.
Degenerative impairments with mental involvement.
Severe multiple disabilities.
Under the Armstrong Group IEP teams must have an Extended School Year (ESY) determination of eligibility no later than February 28th every year. Already your school district is not in procedural compliance and I would recommend that you contact the district in writing to inform them that you need to have an ESY meeting sooner rather than later, This timeframe allows parents of students in this group the opportunity to disagree with a team decision that determines the student ineligible for ESY and take further action without delay. It's important to remember being in the Armstrong Group does not automatically qualify a student for ESY. There are factors that go into the decision process that need to be considered by the team - ESY is not just for regression and recoupment.
I have added the PDF for the "Basic Education Circular" (BEC) that relates to ESY as published by the PA Bureau of Special Education
ESY is a team decision and needs to be made with information and data that comes from the school, evaluations and PARENTAL input. Reading and understanding the parameters for determination is important to you as a parent in order for you to go into the process with all of the information and data supporting your student.
I hope this helps with advocating for your student!
Sincerely,
Ask the Advocate