• The IEP team must discuss ESY services at an initial IEP meeting and at every annual IEP meeting.
• ESY services may also be discussed through an addendum to the annual IEP if necessary.
• The request to consider ESY services may be initiated by the parent, the student, the student’s teacher(s), related service providers, or administrators.

• Regression/Recoupment – The IEP team determines whether without these services, there is a likelihood of substantial regression of critical life skills* caused by a school break and a failure to recover those lost skills in a reasonable time following the school break (e.g., six to eight weeks after summer break).
• Degree of Progress – The IEP team reviews the student’s progress toward the IEP’s goals on critical life skills and determines whether, without these services, the student’s degree or rate of progress toward those goals or objectives will prevent the student from receiving benefit for his/her educational placement during the regular school year.
• Emerging Skills/ Breakthrough Opportunities – The IEP team reviews all IEP goals targeting critical life skills to determine whether any of these skills are at a breakthrough point. When critical life skills are at this point, the IEP team needs to determine whether the interruption in services and instruction on those goals or objectives during the school break is likely to prevent the student from receiving benefit from his/her educational program during the regular school year without these services.
• Interfering Behaviors – The IEP team determines whether without ESY services any interfering behavior(s) such as ritualistic, aggressive, or self-injurious behavior(s) targeted by the IEP goals have prevented the student from receiving benefit from his/her educational program during the school year. The team also determines whether the interruption of programming which addresses the interfering behavior(s) is likely to prevent the student from receiving benefit from his/her educational programming during the next school year.
• Nature and/or Severity of the Disability – The IEP team determines whether, without ESY services, the nature and/or severity of the student’s disability is likely to prevent the student from receiving benefit from his/her educational program during the regular school year.
• Special Circumstances or Other Factors – The IEP team determines whether, without ESY services, there are any special circumstances that will prevent the student from receiving benefit from his/her education program during the regular school year.

• Based on the category of the student’s disability
• Mandated 12-month services for all students with disabilities. A child care service.
• Necessarily a continuation of the total IEP provided to a student with a disability during the regular school year.
• Required to be provided all day, every day, or each day.
• An automatic program provision from year to year.
• Required to be provided in a traditional classroom setting.
• A service to be provided to maximize each student’s potential.
  

• must prohibit the postponement of the decision by the IEP team regarding ESY services until after the summer in order to gather data or to determine what would happen if the services were not provided;
• should allow the decision by the IEP team regarding ESY services to be made early enough to ensure that the parents can meaningfully exercise their due process rights if they wish to challenge an ESY decision;
• must ensure that the individual needs of the student are addressed and that the nature of the services provided will vary based upon those needs;
• must not prelimit the ESY services to a set number of days, hours of service, nor restrict the provision of ESY services for administrative convenience;
• must not allow the availability of ESY services to be limited by the financial resources of the school division;
• must not allow the denial of ESY services to those students who need the services in order to receive FAPE; and
• must not limit ESY services to predetermined disability categories nor categorically exclude certain students with disabilities.

• Are available to any student with a disability if required to ensure that the student is provided FAPE.

• Must ensure that the individual needs of the student are addressed and that the services are provided based on those needs. IEP teams should identify the specific goal(s) and/or objective(s) from the current IEP that require services since all goals may not be affected.
  May not contain all goals and objectives provided during the course of the IEP in place during school year.

• Must be discussed at each annual IEP meeting.

• Vary in type, duration, and amount as determined necessary to meet the unique needs of the student.

Individualized Education Program information