End-of-the-School-Year Checklist for Parents

1. Review your child's IEP document

• Is the IEP ready to be "in place" for the start of the next school year? Is it clearly documented and is the District ready to implement it?
• Do you understand the program that will be in place or do you have questions? Now is a good time to ask questions about the program, as there will likely be limited availability of anyone who can answer your questions during the summer.
• Have you signed the IEP to indicate consent and / or provided a written response?

* Note that because of scheduling difficulties over the summer, it may be easier to request an IEP meeting now if you have any concerns about your child's program for next year.

2. Meet with teacher(s)

• Attend parent-teacher conferences or otherwise arrange for communication with your child's current teacher to get an update on your child.
• If possible, and if next year's schedules are already known to the school / district, find out who will be your child's teacher next year. You may be able to communicate with them now more easily than during the summer if you want to speak with them in advance.

* This is a good time to ask the current teacher questions like "If you were getting my child as a student for the first time, what would you like to know about his/her needs?" This will be helpful information to share with next year's teacher.

3. Get an update on your child's progress

• Make sure you have progress reports by the last reporting period of the school year (i.e. when grades come out). As applicable, obtain both a progress report on IEP goals and a report card with grades. Ask for data sheets if applicable.
  
• Carefully review report cards, progress reports. Did you child make expected progress? Is he/she meeting his/her IEP objectives / making progress towards annual goals? Are his/her grades or anything on his/her report card a concern?

* If needed, request an IEP meeting now to discuss your child's progress, changed needs, or lack of expected progress so that the team can evaluate whether changes need to be made to the program for the following school year. The end of the year is a good time to reflect on "how did this program work?" and "what changes should we make?"

4. Organize records

• Organize IEPs, assessments, correspondence, report cards, etc into a 3 ring binder so that all documents are easily accessible. (Click here for our tips on organization of school documents)
  
• The end of the school year is a great time to make sure your child's records are organized. Update your binder or organizational systems with all of the documents from this school year, and go ahead and make a place for next school year's info now so you'll be ready in the fall.

* In some cases, the end of the year may be a good time to do a records request to the school district and obtain copies of your child's file.

5. Review information regarding ESY (Extended School Year)

• Does the IEP offer ESY and if so, do you fully understand what is offered? (Read here for one school district's view on how ESY determinations are made)
  
• Make sure you know when, where and what will be provided.
• Are there any forms that you need to submit for enrollment for ESY?
• Make sure you find out whether or not your child will be receiving related services (speech, OT, etc) during the summer, and how those will be scheduled. If you are going to opt out of the classroom / instructional portion of the District's ESY offer, ask whether the services will still be available.

* If ESY was not offered, decide if there is a dispute about this, and if you need to put the District on notice that you believe ESY is necessary. Contact a special education attorney or advocate if needed.

6. Sign up for summer activities

• Don't forget that summer is also about fun and taking a break from school!
• Find out what camps, sport and other activities are available in your community. (www.mysummercamps.com has a directory of summer camp programs for kids, including a listing specific to kids with special needs)
  
• If your child participates in school-year extra-curricular activities, like sports or clubs, make sure that you are aware of anything that carries over into the summer.
  
• Research how to sign up for activities so that you can make sure your child will be able to participate. Get copies of any applicable policies and procedures, and find out about the time commitment and schedule.
• Consider whether your child needs reinforcements, behavior support, or other supplementary aids or supports to participate.

* Help your child maintain continuity by gathering contact information for your child's school friends to use for play dates and activities during the summer.

Budget Cuts, Summer School, and Your Kid's IEP

On May 28th Los Angeles Unified School District became one of many districts across the country to announce that it was cancelling summer school due to budget cuts. Students who would normally be able to attend enrichment programs or intervention programs to address reading or math deficits will be denied such opportunities this year, and most likely next year. LAUSD's cuts mean that only credit-replacement classes for high school students (at a limited number of campuses) will be offered as "regular education summer school."

LAUSD will still of course be offering Extended School Year ("ESY") programs for students whose IEPs include such a program. ESY is mandated in the federal regulations and in California special education laws, so while summer school can be "cancelled," ESY cannot. However, Districts across the country are "limiting" ESY, and more and more parents are hearing for that a program is not available, ESY would not be appropriate, or their child does not require it. We are hearing from parents that say the District checked off a box that says the student "does not require ESY" without even discussing it, or that say that Districts are suddenly making it very difficult for students to "qualify" for ESY.

Here are some ways the budget cuts and summer school cancellations could affect your special needs child:

1) If your child is in an inclusion program (general education) during the regular school year, the District may not have a similar setting available during the summer because regular summer school has been cancelled.

* This is probably the biggest way that parents are going to see a direct impact of the cancellation of summer school. If the school district is only offering SDC's over the summer, and your child is typically in a general education setting, it may not be appropriate for him/her to attend the district's ESY program.

* The lack of an appropriate ESY setting isn't the end of the discussion, however. The IEP team needs to first consider whether the student requires ESY. If the student requires ESY to prevent regression in skills, then the IEP team needs to look at what should be offered and what will be appropriate. Deciding a student doesn't qualify because the District's program isn't appropriate is putting the cart before the horse, so to speak.

* If the District agrees that the student requires ESY, but admits it has no appropriate setting to offer, then the District is in a difficult position. You may be able to locate a private regular education program for summer school that will provide the continuation of stucture and interaction with peers that your child requires, and you may then be able to advocate for the District to fund such a setting.

* Furthermore, just because the District's placement option doesn't work for your child does not mean that the child is entitled to nothing over the summer. Look at the specific areas in which your child may regress, and see if he/she requires continuation of related services, even if he/she is not attending a summer school classroom setting. Speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc can be available even if the student does not attend ESY.

2) If your district has limited ESY participation by applying a difficult "standard," you may have a difficult time demonstrating the need for a summer program.

* The typical standard is California cases is that ESY must be provided if the student requires instruction / services during the summer in order to prevent regression that is beyond what a typical student would experience during the break from school. Another possible standard include looking at the nature and severity of the disability, for example considering the fact that a student with autism may need a continuity of structured participation in a classroom setting.

* School districts are applying a more stenuous analysis for the "regression/recoupment" standard. Parents may be faced with IEP teams that say there is "no proof" that the child will regress more than what is typical, or may use indications that the child is meeting IEP goals during the regular school year as indication that ESY is not needed.

* Parents are going to need to come to the IEP meetings armed with information and recommendations to assist them in advocating for ESY. Does your child have an extremely difficult time transitioning to new environments? Argue that this is an indication that the nature of his / her disability requires continuity of services during the summer, and that without ESY the transition to the following school year will cause serious regression. How did your child do after winter break? Previous summer breaks? Use this information as support for ESY this year. Remember that educational benefit is about more than academics, it encompasses "nonacademic" areas like social skills, behavior, etc, and these areas may be good focal points for articulating how your child will regress if not provided appropriate ESY support.

Finally, in general parents should anticipate that this may be happening to their child, and review the IEP document before school gets out. Unfortunately, you may find that the IEP already says your child is not eligible, or the previous IEP may not even speak to ESY. If you need to call another meeting to discuss ESY, now is the time to do it in order to ensure that this issue is brought up before it is too late for this summer.

Fast Fact Friday: Extended School Year ("ESY")

ESY is the provision of services, during the summer months, to a child who is eligible for special education and related services.

If your child's IEP team determines that ESY services are necessary for the provision of FAPE, then these services must be provided. The school district cannot get out of this responsibility by claiming that no such services are available; by claiming that only certain categories of disability are provided with services; or, by unilaterally limiting the type, amount or duation of those services.

At the very least, the appropriateness of ESY services should be discussed by the IEP team. For more information of what should be discussed at the IEP meeting and what the meeting agenda should look like, click here.