Begin Again School’s Under Way Again In Post Falls, And It’s No Picnic For Those For Whom The Bell Tolls

On the Monday following the last day of classes, Jenny Lewis rolled out of bed and - by 8 a.m. - was back at school.

“My brother was sleeping in, saying, ‘Ha, you have to go to school today,”’ Lewis said as she sat in the hallway of Post Falls High School, her patchwork knapsack on the floor by her side.

Lewis, who will be a sophomore this fall, is one of about 80 Post Falls students who got only a weekend off before returning to class.

Instead of bitterness, Lewis was full of determination to redeem herself in algebra - a class she had failed last semester.

“Personally, my education is more important to me, because I have plenty of summers ahead of me,” Lewis said. “One summer isn’t going to kill me.”

That attitude typifies summer school students, said head teacher Greg Cossette.

“Kids in summer school appear to take it more seriously and work a little harder, for the simple fact that either their parents have to pay out of their checkbooks or they have to pay for it themselves,” he said. “It’s a lot more meaningful.”

Student Brian Buffington said his parents were not happy when they discovered he had to retake a math class this summer. Each class costs $75.

“They got kind of mad,” he admitted. “They used me as an example (to his younger brother). ‘See what your brother did? He screwed up, so now he won’t have a summer.”’

A few take summer classes to make up credits lost because of illness, injury or relocation, but the majority of students are like Lewis and Buffington. They simply failed a class.

Many summer school students fit the profile of kids at risk of dropping out of school, said math teacher Karla Adams.

Adams faced a class of 10 students Monday that included one or two boys intent on discovering her boiling point.

“If you come in to goof off, I’m going to send you home,” she warned.

Their questions were tactical: How many tardies are allowed? Can we bring in CD players? If we get thrown out, are we marked absent?

As Adams patiently answered each question, Lewis sat quietly in the front row, doodling a dripping star on a piece of notebook paper.

Soon, Adams distributed books, and the students started working individually on textbook problems.

“I hate this book. It’s so hard,” 14-year-old Ryan Delaney complained as he flipped through an old, familiar “Mathematics in Life” textbook.

When Delaney suggested loudly to his neighbors, “Hey, we can all work together,” Adams intervened.

“I’m sensing that you’re a very social person. Don’t let that become a problem,” she said.

Later, Adams said the small classes and relaxed atmosphere of summer school make it easier to help lively students such as Delaney succeed.

“The standards are still there, but I’m more flexible and laid-back,” she said. “It’s a nice change of pace.”

Most summer school sessions, including those in the Coeur d’Alene and Lakeland school districts, don’t start until next week.

But in Post Falls, administrators wanted to give teachers and students a full month of summer vacation in August, so they started classes this week.

That meant a chaotic Monday morning, Cossette said. With a number of students registering at the last minute, teachers were scrambling to schedule classes to meet the diverse needs.

Fewer students showed up than expected, meaning some teachers had only one class to teach instead of two.

A few more students are expected to register once they receive their report cards, Cossette said.

Teachers are paid $12.50 per hour to teach summer school. Their wages are paid by tuition. Any costs not covered by student tuition are picked up by the school district’s general fund.

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