Extended School Year in Illinois: How to Qualify and Fight for ESY Services

Every year, parents of children on IEPs ask about Extended School Year services and get brushed off with something like, "The team determined ESY isn't necessary." What they're not told is how that determination was made, what data was used, or how they can challenge it.

ESY is a legal entitlement under IDEA and Illinois law for students whose disabilities cause them to regress significantly over extended breaks. It is not a favor the district grants. Here's how the eligibility criteria work — and how to make the case when the district says no.

What ESY Is (and What It Isn't)

Extended School Year services are special education services provided beyond the standard school year. In Illinois, ESY typically covers the summer, though it can also apply to other extended breaks like winter break if the IEP team determines services are necessary.

ESY is not remediation. It's not summer school to help a student who fell behind. It is specifically designed to prevent regression — the loss of skills during an extended break from instruction — and to address recoupment: how long it takes a student to regain those lost skills once school resumes.

ESY services are provided at no cost to the family and can include any service type in the student's IEP: direct speech therapy, OT, behavioral support, specialized instruction, or a combination. The IEP team determines what's needed, for how long, and in what format.

Illinois ESY Eligibility Criteria

Under IDEA and 23 Illinois Administrative Code Part 226, there is no universal ESY eligibility test. Instead, the IEP team is required to make an individualized determination based on the specific student's data. The two key factors are:

1. Regression: Does the student lose skills or behaviors during extended breaks? This is evidenced by progress data from the start of school in September compared to the end of the previous school year in June — or by progress data comparing performance before and after winter break.

2. Recoupment: How long does it take the student to regain lost skills? If a student loses two weeks of progress over summer and regains it within two weeks of returning to school, that's different from a student who loses ground and doesn't recoup it for three months, effectively spending a quarter of every school year just getting back to where they started.

Additional factors the IEP team should consider include:

• Whether skills are at a critical stage of development, where any regression could impede future learning (this is particularly relevant for very young children in early intervention or preschool-age programs)
• Whether the nature of the disability makes regression more likely (students with autism, intellectual disabilities, and severe emotional disturbance often show more dramatic regression patterns)
• Self-sufficiency and independent functioning — whether summer regression affects a student's ability to care for themselves or maintain acquired independent living skills

How Districts Get Away With Denying ESY

The most common method is circular: the district claims there's no data showing regression because no data was collected. If the school doesn't systematically track skill levels at the end of June and the beginning of September, they can truthfully say "we don't have data on regression." Then they use the absence of data as grounds to deny ESY.

Your move: build your own data. Keep a log at home during every extended break. Document what your child could do at the end of school — specific skills, not impressions — and then document the same skills two weeks into the next school year. Teacher observations, notes from private therapists who see your child over summer, and your own structured observations at home all constitute evidence the IEP team must consider.

Also request the September data from the school. Email the teacher in the second week of September every year: "I'd like the specific progress monitoring data showing [child's name]'s skill levels on their IEP goals from the first two weeks of school, to compare with end-of-year data." If they can't produce it, they aren't collecting it — which is itself worth documenting.

Requesting ESY at the Annual IEP Meeting

ESY must be discussed at the IEP meeting. If you want ESY for your child and the team hasn't raised it, put it on the agenda yourself. Come prepared with:

• Progress monitoring data from September showing skill levels compared to June
• Notes from private therapists documenting regression they observed
• A written parent statement describing your observations at home during breaks

If the team denies ESY, request Prior Written Notice that documents the reasons for the denial and the data the team relied on. If the denial is based on vague statements like "we don't believe regression is significant," push back: "What data specifically supports that conclusion?"

If you disagree with the denial, you can request an IEP meeting specifically to revisit ESY eligibility, file an ISBE State Complaint if you believe procedural requirements weren't followed, or pursue due process.

ESY in CPS and Suburban Districts

In Chicago Public Schools, ESY programs are typically run through centralized ODLSS programs during summer. Parents in CPS sometimes find that their child is assigned to an ESY site that is inconvenient or far from home. While this isn't ideal, the district's obligation is to provide appropriate services, not necessarily at your preferred location.

In suburban collar counties, ESY services may be provided through the district's special education cooperative (LADSE, SASED, NSSEO, and others). These programs are often well-staffed and appropriate. The issue in suburban districts is more often wrongful denial than poor service quality once approved.

In downstate districts, staffing for ESY is frequently a problem. The district must still provide the services — they cannot use provider shortages as an excuse. If the district cannot staff ESY locally, they must find a contracted provider or reimburse you for a private provider.

The Illinois IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook at /us/illinois/advocacy/ includes a sample parent statement for ESY requests and an IEP meeting agenda template that covers ESY as a specific agenda item. Having these ready before the annual review meeting puts you in a much stronger position than raising ESY for the first time at the meeting itself.

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