One of the most frequent reasons parents reach out to Brighton’s Special Education Support Services (SESS) is because they have concerns after a school break or holiday. In this month’s blog post, Juan Hernandez, Director of SESS, outlines some concerns parents share with SESS consultants and when it may be beneficial to revisit the Individual Education Program (IEP) and request Extended School Year (ESY) services.
Mid-Year Concerns
Each year, the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee develops a student’s Individual Education Program (IEP), which sets the student’s goals and objectives for the year and includes the special education services and related services the student should receive to meet those goals and objectives.
For some families, the IEP works very well for their students. Others may notice that their student isn’t progressing as well as they had hoped or experiences ‘regression’ during breaks from the structured school day. That’s when they call SESS. Juan explains, “Parents think the IEP is written in stone. They think they have to wait a full year before coming back to the table to discuss other strategies or services. That’s not true.”
The truth is that parents can ask for an ARD meeting as often as necessary. Juan says parents usually reach out to the SESS team right after a long school holiday, like Christmas or Spring Break. “I get a phone call saying that their child had been doing great with not hitting or biting in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but the whole time they were on vacation, their child regressed and had more physically aggressive incidents.” He continues, “Think about it. The student is off routine. There’s less structure. The techniques used in school to redirect behavior aren’t done consistently at home, so the child’s progress in that behavior strategy is lost.”
The SESS team wants parents to know they can take these mid-year concerns to the ARD committee to revisit the IEP. They may also want to start capturing data to take to an ARD meeting to discuss other options.
Understanding the Extended School Year Option
Extended School Year (ESY) services ensure students with disabilities receive appropriate support to maintain their educational progress and prevent significant skill regression.
Here are some of its benefits:
- Prevents Significant Regression: During long breaks from school, students with disabilities may lose critical academic, social, behavioral, communication, or life skills they’ve worked hard to acquire. ESY helps maintain these skills through continued instruction and support.
- Reduces Recoupment Time: Without an Extended School Year (ESY), students might need substantial time to relearn previously mastered skills when returning to school. ESY services help minimize this recovery period, allowing students to maintain their progress rather than spending time regaining lost skills.
- Maintains Critical Life Skills: For students working on essential self-care, communication, or safety skills, interruption of services could impact their independence and daily functioning. ESY ensures the continuous maintenance of these crucial abilities.
- Supports Emerging Skills: When students are just beginning to grasp new concepts or abilities, ESY can provide the additional time and practice needed to master these skills fully.
Juan explains that ESY can address critical skills or IEP goals but isn’t for students who need traditional ‘Summer school’ focus like extra reading or math practice. It’s more for students who have behavior intervention plans and would benefit from maintaining the structure the school day provides.
Requirements and Considerations for Extended School Year (ESY) Services
In Texas, there are several specific requirements and considerations for ESY services:
1. Documentation:
- Texas requires robust documentation of regression-recoupment through formal and informal evaluations.
- Schools must maintain detailed records of student performance before and after breaks.
- Documentation must specifically demonstrate why the student cannot receive FAPE without ESY services.
2. Time Requirements:
- Extended School Year (ESY) services in Texas must be provided for a minimum number of weeks and at least 4 hours per day.
- Services can be scheduled flexibly across the summer break period
3. Staff Requirements:
- Teachers must be properly certified in special education
- Staff-to-student ratios must match those provided during the regular school year
The IEP team determines ESY eligibility based on several factors. The team examines whether the student experiences significant regression in skills during breaks, whether the time required to relearn skills is excessive compared to peers, and any data showing a regression pattern and slow recoupment pattern.
ESY may be appropriate when the student is at a crucial point in developing a skill, interruption of services would substantially jeopardize the learning progress, or the skill is essential for self-sufficiency or independence.
Consideration is also given to the type and severity of the student’s disability, its impact on continuous learning, and the student’s rate of progress.
Other factors may include:
- Alternative resources available during school breaks.
- The student’s ability to interact with non-disabled peers.
- Parental ability to provide educational structure at home.
- The student’s vocational needs.
The decision for Extended School Year (ESY) services must be made on an individual basis and documented evidence and data. ESY service is reviewed annually by the IEP team.
What Parents Can Do
If you have concerns about regression, do not wait until the end of the school year to bring it up. Your student’s critical skills are too important to allow too much time to pass. Brighton Center’s Special Education team can guide you on how to communicate with your child’s ARD committee. We are intentional about the words we use when communicating with schools and can help parents develop that skill and knowledge. Click here to contact our SESS team today!
