6 CAR § 130-1903 – General

(a) Each public agency must ensure that extended school year services are available as necessary to provide FAPE, consistent with subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Extended school year services must be provided only if a child's IEP team determined, on an individual basis, in accordance with 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.320 – 300.324, that the services are necessary for the provision of FAPE to the child.
(c) In implementing the requirements of this section, a public agency may not:
1. (1) Limit extended school year services to particular categories of disability; or
2. (2) Unilaterally limit the type, amount, or duration of those services.
(d) ESY services for eligible children with disabilities must be:
1. (1) Determined and documented through the IEP process; and
2. (2) Provided at no cost to parents.
(e) Not all children with disabilities need ESY services, nor does the provision of ESY services to a child mean that the child needs such services each year.
(f)
1. (1) It is not required that all children with disabilities receive ESY services.
2. (2) The provision of ESY services is the exception and not the rule.
(g)
1. (1) Most children with disabilities, like their nondisabled peers, benefit from school vacations.
2. (2) Breaks in formal programming allow most students to generalize school-learned skills and behaviors to their home and community, thereby facilitating new learning outside of the school environment.
(h) For children who have limited recoupment capacity, a break in programming may be detrimental rather than beneficial to the overall learning process.
(i) The key provision is that all children with disabilities, regardless of classification or severity level, have the opportunity for their IEP team to consider their need for ESY services in the provision of FAPE.
(j) The purpose of ESY services is to prevent regression relative to previously learned skills that cannot be recouped in a reasonable length of time when:
1. (1) Assessed and/or demonstrated recoupment capacity is present; or
2. (2) It can be expected/anticipated that even short breaks in programming will likely result in regression of previously acquired skills that exceeds typical regression experienced by other children, or that acquisition of a new skill will be delayed beyond a reasonable time.
(k)
1. (1) If a child with disabilities does or will experience severe or substantial regression during the summer months in the absence of special education and related services, that child with disabilities may be eligible for ESY services.
2. (2) The issue is whether the benefits accrued to the child during the regular school year will be significantly jeopardized if he or she is not provided an educational program during the summer months.
(l)
1. (1) ESY services for eligible children with disabilities should not be confused with traditional summer school or with summer services typically made available to all children.
2. (2) ESY services provide a different focus from general summer school programs.
(m) ESY services provide for an extension of the IEP from the regular school year, in order to allow the child to maintain the progress achieved during the regular school year.
(n)
1. (1) In providing ESY services to an eligible child, the public agency is acknowledging that the child's program does not end with the close of the regular school year.
2. (2) Further, the public agency acknowledges that the amount of time and services provided are to be determined on an individual basis.