Requirements

The IEP must indicate:

• the recommended placement of the student; and
• the provider of services for students recommended for extended school year (i.e., July-August) programs.

In addition, for preschool students, the IEP must:

• identify the approved provider from the lists of preschool programs and services established pursuant to section 4410 of the Education Law; and
• provide a reason why a preschool student has been recommended for extended school year services.

How should placement be indicated?

For purposes of the IEP, the identification of placement needs to specify where the student's IEP will be implemented. Placement should indicate the type of setting where the student will receive special education services and, whenever possible, include the name of the school. For example:

• Public school district - Anaheim High School
• BOCES class – Johnson Educational Center Based Program
• BOCES class in public school - Kyle Middle School
• Approved private school – day: Koppel Hill Center
• Special Act School District – XYS Union Free School District
• 5-day Residential – Rome School for the Deaf
• Residential – in State: Century First Child and Family Center

Placement should not be confused with location of services

The student’s placement is the setting in which the student’s IEP will be implemented. The location where each of the recommended services will be provided, as indicated in the section Recommended Special Education Programs and Services, specifies where within that placement the services will be provided (e.g., Placement: Darry Public High School. Location of Services: consultant teacher services will be provided in the general education math class; special class will be in the general education English class; individual speech and language therapy will be provided in a separate therapy room).

Extended School Year Services

A student’s need for extended school year services must be made on an individual basis. Extended school year services must be provided only if a Committee determines that services are necessary for the provision of a free appropriate public education to the student. Some students may require special education services during the months of July and August to prevent substantial regression. Substantial regression means a student’s inability to maintain developmental levels due to a loss of skill or knowledge over the summer months of such severity as to require an inordinate period of review at the beginning of the school year (e.g., eight weeks or more) in order to reestablish and maintain IEP goals and objectives mastered at the end of the previous school year.

The IEP must indicate:

• whether the student met the eligibility criteria for extended school year services;
• for preschool students, the reasons the student needs a structured learning environment of 12 months duration to prevent substantial regression; and
• the recommended provider of the extended school year program.

Placement decisions for extended school year services must also be developed consistent with least restrictive environment regulations. Schools are not, however, required to create new programs as a means of providing extended school year services to students with disabilities in integrated settings if it does not provide services at that time for its nondisabled students. However, the Committee could recommend that a student receive his/her extended school year services in a noneducational setting (e.g., a community recreational program that has been arranged for by the parent.)

Extended school year programs or services may be provided in a setting that differs from the one the student attends during the school year, provided the Committee determines that the setting is appropriate for the student to benefit from the special education services and to meet his/her IEP goals.

The recommended placement of the student must be developed in conformity with the least restrictive environment provisions of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.

• Placement must be based on the student’s IEP and determined annually.
• Placement must be as close as possible to the student’s home and, unless the student’s IEP requires some other arrangement, the student must be educated in the school he or she would have attended if not disabled.
• In selecting the least restrictive environment, consideration must be given to any potential harmful effect on the student or on the quality of the services that the student needs.
• A student with a disability must not be removed from education in age-appropriate general education classrooms solely because of needed modifications in the general curriculum.

The IEP forms the basis for the placement recommendation. Only after consideration and development of all other components of the student’s IEP, including the identification of the student’s strengths, needs, goals and the services necessary to meet those goals, does the Committee determine the recommended placement that is most appropriate for the individual student.

Placement decisions must:

• be based on the student’s strengths and needs;
• reflect consideration of whether the student could achieve any of his/her IEP goals in a general education class with the use of supplementary aids and services and/or modifications to the curriculum;
• consider the nonacademic benefits to the student that will result from interaction with nondisabled students; and
• be developed in conformity with the least restrictive environment requirements.

In addition, for preschool students, prior to recommending the provision of special education services in a setting which includes only preschool children with disabilities, the CPSE must first consider providing special education services in a setting where age-appropriate peers without disabilities are typically found. A CPSE may only consider provision of special education services in a setting with no regular contact with age-appropriate peers without disabilities when the nature or severity of the child’s disability is such that education in a less restrictive environment with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

Placement decisions must be made on an individual basis in consideration of the student’s unique needs. Placement decisions should not be based solely on:

• category of disability,
• availability of special education and related services,
• design of the service delivery system,
• availability of space, or
• administrative convenience.

Least Restrictive Environment

Least restrictive environment means that placement of students with disabilities in special classes, separate schools and other removal from the general educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that, even with the use of supplementary aids and services, education cannot be satisfactorily achieved. The placement of an individual student with a disability in the least restrictive environment must:

• provide the special education needed by the student;
• provide for education of the student to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the student with other students who do not have disabilities; and
• be as close as possible to the student’s home and, unless the student’s IEP requires some other arrangement, the student must be educated in the school he or she would have attended if not disabled.

Quality Indicators

Placement decisions:

• Are based on student’s individual strengths and needs, without regard to classification.
• Are determined by a process that first considers a general education environment in the school the student would attend if he/she did not have a disability.
• Reflect consideration of the full range of the student’s needs and abilities (academic or educational achievement and learning characteristics, social development, physical development and management needs, including a student’s transition needs).
• Reflect consideration of whether the student could achieve any of his/her IEP goals in a general education class, including nonacademic classes, with the use of supplementary aids and services.
• Are not based solely on whether the student needs modifications to the curriculum.
• Reflect flexible consideration of all options of the continuum of services.
• Consider opportunities for the student to participate with students without disabilities in all nonacademic and extracurricular activities.
• Consider potential harmful effects of removal from the general education setting or on the quality of services the student needs.
• Consider proximity to the student’s home.
• Are reviewed at least annually.

• Sections 200.1, 200.4, 200.6 and 200.16 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education
• Least Restrictive Environment Implementation Policy Paper – May 1998
• The Provision of Extended School Year Programs for Students with Disabilities in Integrated Settings, August 1996

See Attachment 5

Placement Recommendation

10 Month Placement:
Public School District - Lauderdale High School

Extended School Year Eligible: Yes  [  ] No [X]

If yes:
Provider:                Site:

Projected dates of services: