Mount Union Area School District
Extended School Year (ESY)
To prevent regression and lack of adequate recoupment, the Mount Union Area School District in partnership with Tuscarora Intermediate Unit 11 offers an Extended School Year (ESY) program which will serve qualifying special education students after the bell rings on the last day of school. This will avoid an interruption in their education, loss of basic skills and regression of progress made on Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals. Students will continue to learn math, reading, and specialized skills through speech/language therapy needed to succeed when they return to school in the fall. The program will also focus on other areas including socialization, vocational instruction and community awareness.
The ESY program is supervised by the TIU 11 and is staffed by certified special education teachers and support staff. During the school year, IEP teams determine a student's eligibility through data collection and observation.
Chapter 14 addresses ESY as follows:
§ 14.132. ESY.
(a) In addition to the requirements incorporated by reference in 34 CFR 300.106 (relating to extended school year services), school entities shall use the following standards for determining whether a student with disabilities requires ESY as part of the student’s program:
(1) At each IEP meeting for a student with disabilities, the school entity shall determine whether the student is eligible for ESY services and, if so, make subsequent determinations about the services to be provided.
(2) In considering whether a student is eligible for ESY services, the IEP team shall consider the following factors; however, no single factor will be considered determinative:
(i) Whether the student reverts to a lower level of functioning as evidenced by a measurable decrease in skills or behaviors which occurs as a result of an interruption in educational programming (Regression).
(ii) Whether 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).
(iii) Whether 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.
(iv) The extent to which the student has mastered and consolidated an important skill or behavior at the point when educational programming would be interrupted.
(v) 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.
(vi) The extent to which successive interruptions in educational programming result in a student’s withdrawal from the learning process.
(vii) Whether the student’s disability is severe, such as autism/pervasive developmental disorder, serious emotional disturbance, severe mental retardation, degenerative impairments with mental involvement and severe multiple disabilities.
(b) Reliable sources of information regarding a student’s educational needs, propensity to progress, recoupment potential and year-to-year progress may include the following:
(1) Progress on goals in consecutive IEPs.
(2) Progress reports maintained by educators, therapists and others having direct contact with the student before and after interruptions in the education program.
(3) Reports by parents of negative changes in adaptive behaviors or in other skill areas.
(4) Medical or other agency reports indicating degenerative-type difficulties, which become exacerbated during breaks in educational services.
(5) Observations and opinions by educators, parents and others.
(6) Results of tests, including criterion-referenced tests, curriculum-based assessments, ecological life skills assessments and other equivalent measures.
(c) The need for ESY services will not be based on any of the following:
(1) The desire or need for day care or respite care services.
(2) The desire or need for a summer recreation program.
(3) The desire or need for other programs or services that, while they may provide educational benefit, are not required to ensure the provision of a free appropriate public education.
(d) Students with severe disabilities such as autism/pervasive developmental disorder, serious emotional disturbance; severe mental retardation; degenerative impairments with mental involvement; and severe multiple disabilities require expeditious determinations of eligibility for ESY services to be provided as follows:
(1) Parents of students with severe disabilities shall be notified by the school entity of the annual review meeting to encourage their participation.
(2) The IEP review meeting must occur no later than February 28 of each school year for students with severe disabilities.
(3) The Notice of Recommended Educational Placement shall be issued to the parent no later than March 31 of the school year for students with severe disabilities.
(4) If a student with a severe disability transfers into a school entity after the dates in paragraphs (2) and (3), and the ESY eligibility decision has not been made, the eligibility and program content must be determined at the IEP meeting.
(e) School entities shall consider the eligibility for ESY services of all students with disabilities at the IEP meeting. ESY determinations for students other than those described in subsection (d) are not subject to the time lines in subsection (d). However, these determinations shall still be made in a timely manner. If the parents disagree with the school entity’s recommendation on ESY, the parents will be afforded an expedited due process hearing.
Authority
The provisions of this § 14.132 amended under sections 1372 and 2603-B of the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P. S. § § 13-1372 and 26-2603-B).
Source
The provisions of this § 14.132 adopted June 8, 2001, effective June 9, 2001, 31 Pa.B. 3021; amended June 27, 2008, effective July 1, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 3575. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (334875) to (334877).
Cross References
This section cited in 55 Pa. Code § 3270.4 (relating to definitions); 55 Pa. Code § 3280.4 (relating to definitions); and 55 Pa. Code § 3290.4 (relating to definitions).