School districts aren’t cutting summer programs

From the BCCT today.

School districts aren’t cutting summer programs
Across the country school districts are cutting them to save money, but not in Bucks.
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

From coast to coast, tough financial conditions are forcing school districts and nonprofit groups to cut back on summer programs that are widely viewed as invaluable to both struggling and superior students.

But in Bucks, many district administrators on Wednesday said their summer programs and camps are running as scheduled with stable enrollment figures.

The casualties elsewhere include enrichment programs offering Mandarin and dance — as well as remedial programs in basic subjects designed to help children from low-income and disadvantaged homes avoid the so-called “summer slide” that often undermines their academic progress.

“Summer is a time when affluent kids advance and low-income kids suffer huge setbacks,” said Ron Fairchild, executive director of Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Summer Learning. “If kids aren’t engaged in ongoing learning activities, they lose ground academically.”

Fairchild also noted that summer programs are a source of free or low-cost meals for many disadvantaged children — meaning that cutbacks can have consequences for nutrition as well as learning.

Across the country, thousands of students are affected by cutbacks, ranging from Bethel, Conn., which axed its kindergarten summer program, to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, which is dropping summer school for elementary and middle school students.

Schools in Bucks County, though, reported that they’re hosting their usual number of summer courses and camps. In fact, Bensalem added a middle school level summer program to its agenda, officials said.

Bristol Township, Centennial, Council Rock, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school district officials also said they haven’t canceled any classes due to budget constraints. And although enrollment has slightly decreased in some schools, including in Bensalem and Neshaminy, other programs in those districts have attracted stable registration numbers, administrators said.

Several schools in Bucks County made cuts elsewhere in their budgets to save such programs. For example, officials closed Neshaminy Middle School to save money.

Other states, such as Florida and California, are making widespread cuts as a result of severe state budget woes.

In the city of Santa Rosa, Calif., about 1,580 high school students took summer school classes last year, but fewer than 300 will do so this year, according to Arlen Agapinan, the school district’s director of curriculum for secondary schools.

Trying to slash more than $2 million from its budget, the district is giving priority this summer to students needing help passing the high school exit exam and to seniors needing five or fewer credits to earn a diploma. That means no enrichment courses in subjects like Mandarin or creative writing — and none of the accelerated classes, which in the past had enabled good students to enhance their transcripts.

“We want to help everybody, but we’re handcuffed by the budget,” Agapinan said.

In Florida’s Bevard County, home to the Kennedy Space Center, the school district cut all of its free summer enrichment programs, which last year served some 1,700 students and included a popular course in criminal investigations. A few fee-based programs remain, but otherwise the summer session is focused almost entirely on remedial work for students who fared poorly on the state’s Comprehensive Assessment Test.