Extended School Year Services: When Summer Break Is Not an Option

What Are Extended School Year Services?

Extended School Year (ESY) services are special education and related services provided to a child with a disability beyond the regular school year — typically during summer break, but also during winter and spring breaks when appropriate. ESY is not summer school. It is not enrichment. It is not daycare. It is FAPE continued, because for some children, a break in services means a devastating loss of skills that takes weeks or months to recover — if they recover at all.

Under IDEA section 300.106, every school district must ensure that ESY services are available when necessary to provide FAPE. The district may not refuse ESY based on category of disability, may not cap ESY hours at an arbitrary number, and may not limit ESY to a standard summer program that does not meet the child's individual needs.

When Is ESY Required?

The IEP team must consider ESY for every student with an IEP at least annually. ESY is required when an interruption in services would result in the child being unable to maintain skills or make expected progress, such that the IEP goals cannot be met within the regular school year alone.

The Regression-Recoupment Standard

The most widely used standard — and the one most California districts apply — is the regression-recoupment analysis. ESY is warranted when:

1. Regression: The child is likely to lose critical skills during a break in services, AND
2. Recoupment: The child will require an unreasonable amount of time to recoup those lost skills when services resume

The foundational case is Battle v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 629 F.2d 269 (3d Cir. 1980), which struck down Pennsylvania's blanket 180-day school year limit for students with disabilities. The court held that some children regress so significantly during breaks that they cannot recoup lost ground, making FAPE impossible within a standard school year.

What data to look for:

• Progress monitoring data showing skill loss after previous school breaks (winter break, spring break, summer)
• Length of time it took the child to return to pre-break levels after past breaks
• Rate of progress data showing the child falls behind the trajectory needed to meet annual goals
• Teacher and therapist observations about skill loss patterns

Beyond Regression-Recoupment: The Multi-Factor Analysis

Federal courts have held that regression-recoupment cannot be the sole criterion for ESY eligibility. The Tenth Circuit's decision in Johnson v. Independent School District No. 4 of Bixby, 921 F.2d 1022 (10th Cir. 1990) established that ESY eligibility must consider multiple factors:

1. Regression and recoupment — the traditional analysis
2. The degree of impairment — more severe disabilities may require continuity of services
3. The parents' ability to provide educational structure at home — not all families can replicate therapeutic or instructional services
4. The child's rate of progress — a child making slow progress may lose proportionally more from a break
5. The child's behavioral and physical problems — behavioral regression during breaks can undermine months of progress
6. The availability of alternative resources — whether other community services can maintain skills
7. Emerging skills and breakthrough opportunities — if the child is on the verge of mastering a critical skill (e.g., learning to read, developing functional communication), a break in instruction could cause them to lose the momentum needed for the breakthrough

California-Specific Considerations

California Education Code section 56345(b)(3) requires the IEP team to consider ESY for every student. The California Department of Education has clarified that:

• ESY decisions must be made on an individual basis, not by applying district-wide eligibility criteria
• ESY services must be sufficient to maintain skills, not merely a token number of hours
• The district must consider all areas of the IEP, not just academic goals — behavioral, social, communication, motor, and adaptive skills are all relevant
• ESY must be provided at no cost to parents

What ESY Services Can Include

ESY is not limited to a classroom seat in a summer program. ESY services must match the child's IEP needs and may include:

• Specialized academic instruction — continued reading intervention, math instruction, or other academic services from the IEP
• Speech-language therapy — for children whose communication skills regress without ongoing therapy
• Occupational therapy — for children working on fine motor, sensory processing, or self-care skills
• Behavioral services — continued implementation of the BIP, behavioral therapy, social skills instruction
• Counseling — for children whose emotional regulation or mental health deteriorates without school-based support
• Physical therapy — for children with motor needs
• Assistive technology — continued access to devices and training
• Transportation — the district must provide transportation to the ESY setting if needed
• 1:1 aide services — if the IEP provides for an aide during the school year and the child needs that support during ESY

Common District Pushback — and How to Respond

"We don't have data showing regression."

Your response: "The absence of data does not mean the absence of regression — it means the district has not collected the data. I am requesting that the IEP team collect pre-break and post-break data at the next school break to establish a regression-recoupment baseline. In the meantime, the team should consider predictive factors: the severity of the child's disability, the nature of the skills at risk, and whether the child has historically demonstrated skill loss. Under Johnson v. Bixby (10th Cir. 1990), regression-recoupment data is only one of several factors the team must consider."

"ESY is only for students with severe disabilities."

Your response: "That is a categorical limitation prohibited by IDEA section 300.106(a)(2). ESY eligibility must be determined individually. A child with dyslexia who will lose critical phonological awareness skills over summer, or a child with ADHD who will lose behavioral self-regulation, may need ESY just as much as a child with more significant disabilities."

"We offer a 4-week summer program — your child can attend that."

Your response: "The type, amount, and duration of ESY must be individually determined based on the child's IEP. A one-size-fits-all summer program that does not address my child's specific IEP goals — delivered by staff who may not be trained in the child's specific methodology — does not constitute ESY. What is the content of this program? Does it include [child's specific services — e.g., structured literacy instruction, speech therapy, behavioral support]? If not, it is not appropriate ESY for my child."

"Your child will be fine over the summer."

Your response: "Based on what data? The IEP team must make this determination based on individualized data, not a prediction. My child's progress monitoring data shows [describe — e.g., 'a pattern of skill loss after every school break, with [X] weeks required to return to pre-break levels']. The team must consider this data, along with the other factors identified in the case law, before concluding that ESY is unnecessary."

What To Do Next

The Bigger Picture

Summer is not a neutral event for many children with disabilities. It is a regression event. A child who spent nine months learning to decode words can lose that skill over ten weeks of summer. A child who finally learned to raise their hand instead of calling out can lose that behavioral skill without consistent reinforcement. A child who was just beginning to make friends through a social skills group can lose that fragile social progress.

ESY exists because Congress recognized that FAPE is not a September-to-June promise. For some children, it is a year-round necessity. The district cannot simply turn off the lights in June and assume your child will be in the same place in September. If the data shows otherwise — if your child regresses, if your child is at a breakthrough moment, if your child's disability requires continuity — ESY is not optional. It is FAPE.