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Campbell City School District switches to online credit-recovery program, saves thousands
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
CAMPBELL
An online program to help select students catch up on credits needed to graduate is expected to save Campbell schools about $40,000 yearly.
Previously, the district’s credit-deficient students traveled to and attended a program offered by the Mahoning County Educational Service Center. This program cost the district $60 per student, per day, amounting to $100,734 last year, said Superintendent Matthew Bowen.
This year, total costs for the credit-recovery program, including in-house teacher monitors and curriculum purchased from the MCESC, should not exceed $60,000, Bowen added. He noted that each online course a student enrolls in costs the district $75.
Students who can enroll in the program lack the minimum number of credits — particularly from core classes, such as English and math — to graduate.
Aside from the cost savings for the district, the change also benefits students, Bowen said.
“We are able to better track our students’ performance to ... guarantee compliance of the credit-recovery program, because it is on site,” Bowen said. “The curriculum is Web-based, so they do have access to it during study halls or at home. But for these students, it is critically important that they have access to our teaching staff.”
It’s possible, for example, for a student to be in his third year at Campbell Memorial High School, but be at only a freshman status, said Rachael Smith, the district’s special-services director. The credit-recovery program could help the student catch up to others in his grade level and then graduate on time, she added.
Students have access to the technology and teachers from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. Based upon student need, however, more time can be made available, Bowen said.
The district will soon implement another cost-saving measure, thanks to its new website that will debut by early spring.
At its Oct. 22 meeting, the Campbell Board of Education approved the one-time spending of $2,500 to create a custom-designed district website through SchoolPointe, which provides schools and school districts with website designs and content management tools.
Website maintenance will carry an annual fee of about $500, Bowen said. In reality, though, since the district plans to do away with its subscription to SurveyMonkey, a Web-based survey service, the difference will amount to a total cost of approximately $300 per year.
Bowen added that the district will subscribe to SurveyMonkey for one more year, then discontinue the subscription, since the new website will include surveys and other communication tools. Staff will be trained to use the new website before it debuts to ensure that they fully take advantage of its features, he noted.
The new website is based off feedback received from staff and community members, said Smith, who noted that many thought the current website wasn’t user friendly and was hard to navigate. The district now has a say on all aspects of the website, including its layout and color scheme.