IEP’s for the summer a.k.a. Extended School Year (ESY)

“Summer school” enrollment is fast approaching; it is offered by school districts to ALL children–yes, our kids with disabilities can participate.  You might need to request accommodations so that your child can have “equal access” to what is being offered.

Our children who have IEP’s may receive ESY during the summer.   This may include services to address goals in the IEP as well as related services (for example OT, PT, ST, etc.).

Many school district IEP teams rely only on a criteria of “predicted regression” to determine if ESY is necessary for the student; this is outdated.  This is not the only criteria.  IDEA address ESY at CFR 300.309.

Some students get ESY for a few hours every morning for a few weeks during the summer.  The most I have seen provided in Missouri is three hours for five mornings a week for eight weeks.

A resource you’ll find helpful is  http://dpi.wi.gov/SPED/pdf/esyguide.pdf        Be sure to print it and take the copy to your IEP meeting.

IEP’s have a special section for “consideration” of ESY; be sure this section is completed by your IEP team.  It should indicate the duration, amount, frequency and specific service(s) of the ESY.    If you believe your child should receive ESY services over the summer but the district doesn’t, a parent can indicate objection by saying so during the meeting and also writing such.  It might be an issue for a child complaint with the state.

If you don’t want to deal with school over the summer, then don’t  pursue ESY.   Some kids need the summer to chill and take a break.

No special ed problem unless you let them know there’s a problem

Believe it or not, an advisory panel exists in Missouri that is mandated to advise the state special education matters. At the last quarterly meeting (sept 08) it was made known that a committee would begin to accept comments from the public via e-mail.
Here’s the e-mail: seapcomments@gmail.com A committee is to present the comments to the advisory panel.
The next meeting of this advisory panel is Dec 12 in Jefferson City.
For more info, visit www.dese.mo.gov, click on special education. Then look for “Special Education Advisory Panel” or SEAP.

Missouri special education due process — avoid it!

Parents who are frustrated by IEP meetings where nothing is accomplished can pursue approaches other than “due process”.  “Due Process” is a lengthy process and is emotionally draining, and often puts a child’s education on hold while “lawyers” wrangle. 

If your child’s needs, which are listed in the IEP, are not being addressed by the public school, then a parent might want to consider filing a “child complaint” with our state dept of Education in Jefferson City.  A “child complaint” is where a parent presents allegations of how the school district is not following the IEP…and the state department of education follow-up by doing some fact-finding then making a decision of whether the district is “in compliance” or not.  

It is important to have accurate record-keeping so that if/when a parent files a “child complaint”, the documents exist to support an allegation.

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice***I am not an attorney and am not licensed to practice law in Missouri or any other state.  Nothing in these communications should be considered to be legal advice.    www.theiepcenter.com

 

 

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