Strapped districts cut summer school

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Amber Bramble had to scramble to arrange summer plans for her 5- and 7-year-old daughters after their suburban Kansas City school district gutted its summer-school program this spring.

Her daughters were among about 2,500 of the Raymore-Peculiar district’s 6,000 students who enrolled for free last summer in a program that combined traditional subjects with enrichment classes such as music.

But with state funding uncertain, the district decided to focus this year on about 800 students who either need to make up credits to graduate or are struggling to keep up with classmates.

Across the country, districts are cutting summer school because it’s just too expensive to keep. The cuts started when the recession began and have worsened, affecting more children and more essential programs that help struggling students.

And in districts such as Raymore-Peculiar, although lawmakers ultimately decided to maintain summer-school funding, they made the decision so late in the session that many administrators already had eliminated or scaled back the programs.

The cuts come even as President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan call for longer school days and shorter summer breaks. But in many states districts cutting summer school outnumber those using stimulus money to expand their offerings.

“At a time when we need to work harder to close achievement gaps and prepare every child for college and career, cutting summer school is the wrong way to go,” Duncan said in a written statement. “These kids need more time, not less.”

With the Raymore-Peculiar district trimming its program, Bramble’s daughters were unable to participate.

“I think it gets them out of the rhythm,” she said. “You lose the momentum.”

An American Association of School Administrators survey found that 34 percent of respondents are considering eliminating summer school for the 2010-11 school year.

That’s a rate that has roughly doubled each year, from 8 percent in 2008-09 to 14 percent in 2009-10.

Noelle Ellerson, a public policy analyst for the group who managed the study, said the cuts illustrate how strapped school districts are.

Experts say studies show summer break tends to widen the achievement gap between poor students and their more affluent peers whose parents can more easily afford things such as educational vacations, camps and sports teams.