Extended School Day/Extended School Year
By Hillary D. Freeman, Esq. and Ira M. Fingles, Esq.
Some students require additional instruction beyond the
typical school day or typical school year to make meaningful progress towards
their IEP goals. This is referred to as extended school day (“ESD”) and
extended school year (“ESY”).
The most common method for determining whether a child is eligible
for ESD and ESY is the “regression/recoupment analysis.” This method reviews
whether a student would suffer regression in skills if his or her educational
services were interrupted for a period of time and whether it would take a long
time to regain the lost skills. IEP teams may not use this as the only factor in
determining whether a student qualifies for these services. Other factors include:
severity of the disability, the ability of the parents to provide services at home,
the student’s vocational needs, the ability of the student to interact with
nondisabled peers, and whether the student is on the brink of learning new skills.
ESD and ESY services may be provided in a variety of forms, including,
but not limited to, 1:1 tutoring, related therapies, social skills groups, and practicing
skills in the home and/or community. Whatever the service may be, it must be
provided in accordance with the student’s individualized needs.
Hinkle,
Fingles, & Prior maintains a multi-state law practice
with offices in Lawrenceville, Marlton, and Florham
Park, New Jersey, and Plymouth Meeting and Bala Cynwyd,
Pennsylvania. They lecture and write frequently on
topics of law, aging, disability and estate planning
and are available
to speak to groups in New Jersey
and Pennsylvania at no charge.
Comments
and suggestions for future articles should be mailed
to: Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, Attorneys at Law,
2651 Main Street, Suite A, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
08648-1012.
Copyright
2009 Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, Attorneys at Law. All rights reserved.
