Summer is supposed to feel like a break. But for parents of children with learning disabilities, it often comes with a quiet worry: will my child lose what they worked so hard to build this year? If your child has an IEP, there may be a service you’re entitled to that you don’t know about yet. Extended School Year (ESY) services exist specifically for this, and Wisconsin families have more rights than many realize. Here’s what you need to know.
What Is ESY, and Is It Just Summer School?
ESY is not summer school. Summer school is typically optional, open to any student, and focused on general enrichment or credit recovery. ESY is a special education service, written into your child’s IEP, and provided at no cost to you because it’s required to ensure your child doesn’t lose ground on the skills their IEP already targets [1]. Despite the name, ESY isn’t limited to summer either: services can be provided during school breaks, vacations, or even within the regular school year if that’s what your child’s IEP team determines they need [2]. The goal isn’t enrichment. It’s protecting progress that’s already been made.
Looking for ways to keep learning going at home this summer, with or without ESY? Check out our Summer Success Guide for simple activities you can build into your family’s routine.
Does My Child Automatically Qualify If They Have an IEP?
Having an IEP doesn’t automatically qualify your child for ESY in Wisconsin, but the bar is lower than most parents assume. The IEP team must consider ESY for every child with an IEP, and a child’s disability category alone can never be used to include or exclude them [1]. The real question the team is required to ask is whether your child needs ESY to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE), specifically whether a break in services would cause harm significant enough that the progress gained during the school year would be put at risk [1]. That’s a meaningful, individualized look at your child, not a checkbox tied to their diagnosis.
What Does “Regression” Actually Mean, and How Do I Know If My Child Is at Risk?
In plain terms, regression means losing skills or progress during a break and either not recovering them at all, or taking an unreasonably long time to recover them once school resumes. For a child with a learning disability, this might look like forgetting decoding strategies they’d finally mastered, needing weeks to relearn multiplication facts they had down in May, or losing the stamina to write a full paragraph after eight weeks away from practice. Wisconsin’s ESY determination doesn’t only look backward at what’s already happened. It’s a multi-factored decision that also weighs the likelihood of future regression, how slowly your child is predicted to recoup lost skills, and other predictive data about your child’s learning pattern [2]. If you’ve watched your child take an unusually long time to get back into the swing of things after past breaks, that’s exactly the kind of evidence worth raising with the IEP team.
If you’ve watched your child take an unusually long time to get back into the swing of things after past breaks, that’s exactly the kind of evidence worth raising with the IEP team. Not sure how to read what your child’s progress reports are actually telling you? Our guide to understanding IEP progress reports can help you spot the signs before the next IEP meeting.
What If My Child Has Never Had ESY Before? Can They Still Qualify?
Yes. A lack of documented regression in the past does not disqualify your child from ESY now. Wisconsin DPI guidance is direct on this point: teams cannot deny ESY solely because a child has never received it before or because regression hasn’t been formally observed yet [1]. Every child’s needs can change from year to year, and an IEP team is required to make this determination fresh, based on current data and projections, not on what happened or didn’t happen in prior summers.
Who Makes the Decision, and Do I Have a Say?
You do, and not just informally. As a parent, you are a full member of your child’s IEP team, with the same standing as the teachers and specialists in the room. Wisconsin’s guidance explicitly calls on IEP teams to treat parents as experts on their own child, to engage in real two way conversation rather than simply presenting a decision, and to view your child through an asset based lens rather than only a deficit based one [2]. Your observations about regression, behavior, or skill loss at home carry real weight in this decision, so bring them to the table.
What Kinds of Services Can ESY Include?
ESY is more flexible than the phrase “extended school year” suggests. Depending on what your child’s IEP team determines they need, ESY can include one on one or small group tutoring, speech language therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral support, or other related services, not necessarily a full day in a classroom [1]. The format, frequency, and location of ESY services should match what your child specifically needs to maintain their IEP goals, not a one size fits all summer program.
What’s the Difference Between ESY, Compensatory Services, and Additional Services?
These three terms get tangled together often, but they answer different questions. ESY is forward looking: it prevents regression that would otherwise happen during a break in the school term. Compensatory services are backward looking: they’re owed when a school has already failed to provide FAPE and the team needs to make up for that shortfall. Additional services are a more specific, time bound category tied to COVID-19 era school closures, addressing gaps created during that period. If you’ve heard your child’s team use these terms interchangeably, it’s worth asking directly which one is being discussed, since each comes with different rights and different triggers.
What If I Disagree With the School’s Decision?
If the IEP team decides against ESY and you disagree, you have several options under Wisconsin special education law. You can request another IEP meeting to revisit the decision with new data or documentation. You can request mediation, a voluntary process with a neutral third party to help you and the school reach agreement. If you believe the school violated special education procedures, you can also file a state complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Or you can request a due process hearing, a more formal legal proceeding, if the dispute centers on whether your child is receiving FAPE [1]. None of these require you to navigate alone. Organizations like LDA of Wisconsin can help you understand which option fits your situation.
What Should I Do Right Now If I Think My Child Might Need ESY?
Don’t wait until fall to raise the question. ESY decisions are made by the IEP team, typically in the months before summer, so bring it up at your child’s next IEP meeting, or request a meeting now if one isn’t already scheduled. Come with specific examples of what regression has looked like for your child in the past, or what you’re worried about this time. Ask directly: “Has the team considered ESY for my child this year, and what data supports that decision?”
Asking the question is itself a form of advocating for your child. You don’t need to have all the answers before you raise it. LDA of Wisconsin is here to help you understand your rights and prepare for that conversation.
References
- Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Bulletin 10.02 — Extended School Year Services. https://dpi.wi.gov/sped/laws-procedures-bulletins/bulletins/10-02
- WI-FACETS. ESY Presentation (April 28, 2021). https://wifacets.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/WI-FACETS-Presentation-04-28-21.pdf