When a break erases progress, ask the IEP team to weigh Extended School Year
Extended School Year is decided from the regression your child showed over the last break, and this letter asks the IEP team to decide it that way rather than from a category on a form. Nothing about this letter needs a diagnosis first, and you can send it before the annual review lands on the calendar. You can send it today: paste it into an email, replace what sits in brackets, and write down the day the school received it; the table below says which day starts each clock.
What the rule says
“Extended school year services must be provided only if a child’s IEP Team determines, on an individual basis … that the services are necessary for the provision of FAPE to the child.”
34 CFR 300.106(a)(2)
Nobody may cap this by a diagnosis label or a blanket policy; the decision runs on your child’s own data.
When to send it
- A school break ended and it took weeks for your child to return to where the spring had left off.
- The team named a disability category as the reason ESY does not apply, without looking at the regression itself.
- ESY never came up at this year’s annual review, and the minutes note nothing about it.
What happens after you send it
| What is being counted | By when | How it is counted |
|---|---|---|
| ESY reviewed again | 12 months | The team looks at ESY again every year, using this year’s data rather than last year’s answer.34 CFR 300.324(b)(1) |
| When the team meets | Set by your state | IDEA sets no count for scheduling this conversation, so your state or district calendar decides.34 CFR 300.106(a)(2) |
What the letter has to contain
Regression, with dates
A vague ‘summer is hard’ invites a shrug back; two dated examples turn regression into a number the team can weigh.
No blanket policy may set this; the team decides it from your child’s own data. 34 CFR 300.106(a)(2)
No category, no ceiling
Some districts stop at a disability category and call the question closed, before anyone looks at what happened over the last break.
A district may not limit ESY to particular categories of disability. 34 CFR 300.106(a)(3)(i)
The recoupment window
Regression alone reads as an ordinary summer; the weeks a skill took to come back are what separates ESY from routine review.
A district may not unilaterally limit the type, amount, or duration of ESY. 34 CFR 300.106(a)(3)(ii)
The written reason
Nothing spoken at pickup can be pointed to later; only a page you can quote holds up next spring.
A decision to deny ESY owes you the reasoning in writing. 34 CFR 300.503(a)(2)
The letter
Replace everything in brackets. The rest sends as it stands.
- To
- Whoever chairs IEP meetings, and the ESY coordinator
- Subject
- Please look again at Extended School Year for [Child’s full name]
Dear [Case Manager], Extended School Year deserves another look for [Child’s full name] before the next meeting. Here is the regression I have tracked after breaks: • [Date] — [what returned late, and how many weeks it took to catch back up] • [Date] — [a skill, a behavior gain, or a communication routine that slipped] • [Provider or teacher note, if one exists, describing the same pattern] Please weigh this apart from [Child’s first name]’s disability category, and tell me what recoupment data the team already has on file. If ESY is denied, please send that answer as prior written notice, in the form 34 CFR 300.503 sets, complete with the data used to decide it. Kind regards, [Your name] [Today’s date] [Email] · [Phone]
If no answer comes back
Let the state’s own count run from the day this letter reaches the case manager, since IDEA sets no number here.
- Send a short follow-up on the same thread, naming the date the request was sent.
- Check with the case manager about which meeting will take up this ESY question.
- Copy the special education director so a second desk holds a copy of the request.
A no owes you prior written notice: the decision, the reason for it, and the records behind it (34 CFR 300.503).
This is a template, not legal advice: it does not replace your state’s procedures, or advice from someone qualified to read your file.
Have the pages you are writing about read back to you, free.
The review reads every page you upload, names the wording that is vague or missing, and gives you its page number.
Review my IEP — freeFree, no card. It reads your pages and contacts no one.
Where this comes from
- Extended school year services (34 CFR 300.106)The rule this letter rests on.
- Review and revision of IEPs (34 CFR 300.324)Where the annual review sits.
- Center for Parent Information and Resources: Extended School YearWhat ESY looks like in practice.
- Prior written notice (34 CFR 300.503)What a no owes you.
Response deadlines are set state by state, and the state pages carry each number with its rule.