Information about Extended School Year Eligibility (ESY)

Here is a link to Questions and Answers about Extended School Year (ESY)

https://www.nysed.gov/special-education/extended-school-year-programs-and-services-questions-and-answers 

The CSE/CPSE must determine annually on an individual basis if a student requires an ESY program (sometimes also referred to as two-month, 12-month, or July and August programs). A child's entitlement to ESY programs as part of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) continues to apply even if public schools do not provide other educational services during summer school breaks. It is important to remember that CSE/CPSE recommendations regarding ESY programs are prospective and not intended to make up for past denials of FAPE.

In accordance with sections 200.6(link is external)(k)(1) and 200.16(link is external)(i)(3)(v) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, students must be considered for ESY programs to prevent substantial regression if they are students:

• whose management needs are determined to be highly intensive and require a high degree of individualized attention and intervention and who are placed in special classes;

• with severe multiple disabilities, whose programs consist primarily of habilitation and treatment and are placed in special classes;

• who are recommended for home and/or hospital instruction whose special education needs are determined to be highly intensive and require a high degree of individualized attention and intervention or who have severe multiple disabilities and require primarily habilitation and treatment;

• whose needs are so severe that they can be met only in a seven-day residential program; or

• who are receiving other special education services and who, because of their disabilities, exhibit the need for a 12-month special service and/or program provided in a structured learning environment of up to 12-months’ duration in order to prevent substantial regression.

Pursuant to section 200.1(link is external)(aaa), substantial regression means a student's inability to maintain developmental levels due to a loss of skill or knowledge during the months of July and August of such severity as to require an inordinate period of review at the beginning of the school year to reestablish and maintain IEP goals and objectives mastered at the end of the previous school year. Substantial regression is indicated by a student’s inability to maintain developmental levels due to a loss of skill, set of skill competencies, or knowledge during the months of July and August. Both quantitative and qualitative information should be reviewed by the CSE/CPSE to substantiate the need for providing ESY programs. A student is eligible for an ESY program when the period of review or reteaching required to recoup the skill or knowledge level attained by the end of the prior school year is beyond the time ordinarily reserved for that purpose at the beginning of the school year.

The typical period of review or reteaching, for any student who at the beginning of the school year after not having programs or services during the summer, ranges between 20 and 40 school days. As a guideline for determining eligibility for an ESY program, a review period of eight weeks or more upon return to school would indicate that substantial regression has occurred.

While regression is considered when recommending an ESY program, there is no requirement that a child actually demonstrate 8 weeks of regression in order to recommend an ESY program. Rather, it is a CSE/CPSE determination that an ESY program is required to prevent substantial regression. Regression data should be collected any time throughout the ten-month program and reported to the CSE/CPSE for the consideration of recommending an ESY program (e.g., if a child has speech therapy on Monday and Wednesday and on the following Monday, they do not demonstrate the skills they had on Wednesday that could be considered regression and could be considered substantial depending on the length of time it takes for the child to recoup that skill). It is the CSE/CPSE’s responsibility to determine whether an ESY program is needed to ensure the student’s regular school year progress toward IEP goals will not be impacted by substantial regression.