At the annual Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting the discussion will cover whether the student is eligible for Extended School Year (ESY). For the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), this is listed on page 8 of the IEP under #6.

6. Extended School Year/Intersession - yes no

Based on all of the folowing: Continuing impact of disability, pattern of regression and difficulty retaining knowledge after vacations and school breaks.

8. ESY for RSP students: If ESY program is not as school of residence, student requires school to school or home to school transportation.

For my son Nicholas the school to school had been checked off on his IEP. RSP stands for Resource Specialist Services. This is for children who are included in regular education utilizing services through RSP and can be done on a pull-out basis, in class assistance or consultation with general ed teacher and designated intruction and services (DIS).

My son Nicholas was fully included in fourth grade. The school followed a traditional school calendary year starting in September and commencing in June. I received a letter in March from the school with details on the ESY offer. This letter included tentative dates for the ESY - July 6 - August 2, 2006.

The official enrollment and emergency information card were also included. The cut-off date to respond was March 29, 2006. Before the end of the school year those who signed up for the ESY would receive a letter with the assigned school site, transportation data and the confirmed dates for the ESY.

Nicholas told me many of his classmates received the same letter - these are given to students to bring home. This letter stated the following:

" Assignment of teachers and classroom support personnel will follow bargaining unit contractural guidelines. Because of the uncertainty regarding the level of funding that the Los Angeles Unified School District will receive for the 2006 school year, the Summer Session ESY Program may be limited."

On May 15, 2006 another letter was sent home:

" This letter is to inform you that your child is able to attend summer school this year. This is a voluntary program. Summer school will be held at XXX Elementary Schoool and bus transportation is provided for the four weeks of this program.

Dates of program: Thurs. July 6, 2006 through Wed. August 2, 2006
Time: 8:00 - 12:00

Please sign and return the portion below if you would like your child to attend."

This pdf file is a 36-page memorandum from March of 2009 on the 2009-2010 Summer School and Intersession Programs for Elementary Schools at single and multi-track school and Middle Schools. Bus Supervision Aide Application for home school site. Beyond the Bell Intersession Programs - for Elementary Schools.

When Matthew attended the same school in the Special Day Class (SDC) for two years in the first grade his classmates took a bus to another school in East Los Angeles. Many years ago this same school did have ESY on campus, with both Nicholas and Matthew attending during their earlier school years.

Since my children have been attending an autism summer daycamp they no longer participate in ESY. However, they are still offered this option through the School District. The Regional Center also plays a part in choosing what your child on the Autism Spectrum Disorder will be attending over the summer, if you reside in the State of California.

The summer camp my kids attend runs for six weeks, with the ESY usually at 3-4 weeks, depending on funding and location. Another difference between ESY and camp is that ESY is a shorter day than typical school days with an average of four hours. The summer camp day is for six hours, from 9-3.

Funding through the Regional Center will only be the difference between what the School District offers and the length of the camp. Therefore our funding process in years past has been for three weeks of summer camp. Then there are foundations that offer various scholarships for camp with the remainder being paid on a payment plan to the camp Director.

Matthew goes to a school that is a single track. Some schools have three or four tracks. Track A is Aug-Dec. Winter recess for all tracks is in December. When Matthew was on Track A intersession would be held in January for four weeks four hours daily. Track A ends in June. During intersession time there are no related services unless you put them into the IEP. This year is another Triennial IEP that is also the Transition or Matriculation IEP. His first triennial at this elementary school we had a Functional Behavior Assessment.

Tracks B, C and D start in July. Track B breaks from October through mid November. Track C breaks in mid August through early September. They also have a break mid Feb through March. Track D has their break in mid May through June. One break is the intersession period with the other being their summer break and then holiday break.

Due to low enrollment the past few years many of the nearby Elementary schools have gone to single track. Single track schools have one week of spring break, the multi track schools do not observe spring break.

For the calendar school year of 2004-2005 I received a Special Education Extended School Year/Intersession Progress Report. This contained three goals and comments regarding said goals. The marks were from 1-4 on the progress. The days of attendance and absent were also noted on this form. I did not receive any documentation for the 2005-2006 Intersession and will mention that at the upcoming IEP.

Question and Answer Guide on Special Education Extended School Year Programs from Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE).

Autism summer camps