Rising Standards Expand School Year Students Increasingly Turn To Summer School To Catch Up

Though the school year is officially over and summer break is here, the lazy days of sleeping in have been cut short for thousands of area students.

Welcome to summer school.

“I failed English,” says Justin Baldwin, 16, from behind a computer on a recent morning at Mead High School, where he’s enrolled in the district’s six-week summer program. “This gives me something to do. It’s all right, I guess.”

Despite the failing grade, Baldwin’s teacher says the teenager is brilliant. And now he’s getting a second chance to apply himself.

In its second year, the Mead High School summer program has doubled to about 100 students who have been referred by counselors and teachers.

Mead is also offering summer programs at three of its elementary schools.

Elsewhere in the region, summer school programs are springing up at neighborhood schools like dandelions. They range from two-week to six-week programs, staggered throughout the summer. Students attend classes for a half day or longer, depending on how much work they have to make up.

With the state’s education reform in high gear, districts across the region are working to put an end to “social promotion,” passing students to the next grade despite poor performance. With a mandate before schools to set the achievement bar higher, districts are stretching the traditional 180-day school year to help students rise to the challenge.

Spokane School District 81, the second-largest district in the state, offers more than 30 summer school programs, compared with a handful two years ago. That’s on top of the districtwide summer school program that has always been offered.

“A major issue with education reform is getting all kids up to these higher standards,” said District 81 Superintendent Gary Livingston. “As we began looking at WASL test scores and the kids who are behind, it was clear they need more time, homework centers and summer school that extend the school year.”

The WASL, or the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, is the state’s new high-stakes test designed to measure whether students have mastered the “essential academic learning requirements.” The new set of benchmarks in core subjects and the WASL test, given in grades 4, 7 and 10, are driving the state’s education overhaul.

The new neighborhood school programs are better able to meet students’ needs, Livingston said.

While many districts traditionally hold summer enrichment classes, the new summer programs are nuts and bolts, not arts and crafts. Students get a heavy, concentrated dose of core subjects, such as math, English, science and social studies.

Despite the dread of being sent to summer school, some students are finding that once they show up, it’s better than they expected.

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” said Starr Gonzalez, 14, who is in summer school for two weeks at Spokane’s Sacajawea Middle School. “Lots of my friends are here.”

Some students say they even like it.

“I learn better,” said Tera Tarkenton, 16, who will be a junior at Mead. “The classes are smaller, and I have more time to concentrate.”

In Mead, for example, class sizes are about 15 to 20, compared with 30-plus students during the regular school year. Teachers are able to offer more one-on-one time with students. And discipline problems all but disappear.

“There are no discipline problems,” said Mead English teacher Ken Russell. “They know they have to get the work done and this is their last chance.”

With added instructional time comes added costs. Many districts cobble together funding from grants, Medicaid money earmarked for schools and Title I funds. Title I is the largest federal assistance program to help meet students’ special needs. Some districts have to charge students. Mead charges $150 tuition per student to pay teachers for the extra work.

“There is not currently a funding model that enables us to provide these kinds of summer programs,” said Terry Nelson, assistant superintendent of the Cheney School District. “You have to have special grant money or title money.”

Cheney is starting a new elementary summer school program, which will include three sessions over the summer. The program is being funded with Title I money, though there were no extra funds to plan and develop the program.

“It’s been a lot of additional work for the staff at Sunset Elementary School,” Nelson said.

With education reform driving the need for extra class time, many educators believe it’s the state’s responsibility to follow through with more funding.

In May, the Legislature approved $20 million in “better school funds,” which will go to school districts for professional development, reducing class size and extending learning.

State schools superintendent Terry Bergeson said the money, which will start flowing to schools in September, is a good start. But she still wants to see more funding to support schools.

Bergeson is hopeful Initiative 728, also known as “K-12 2000,” will make it on the November ballot and be approved by voters. The measure would channel more state dollars into education. I-728 would not raise taxes, but would leave more school tax dollars with local districts, rather than routing the money through Olympia.

The additional funding would be used to reduce class size, extend learning opportunities and finance teacher training.

“It would be a major source of funding and if it doesn’t get on the ballot, then we have to go back and build on the better school funds,” Bergeson said. “You can’t set challenging standards like we have and keep a 180-day school year. Some children will be able to accomplish (everything), but others are going to need more help.”

As summer school programs expand, the traditional agrarian school calendar - which has given students three months off in the summer - may be becoming a thing of the past.

Bergeson said her “ideal” school calendar would be 12-week cycles of classes, with about two weeks off between them.

“I hear more and more talk of districts saying if we could do 12 weeks and then take a couple weeks off,” she said. “I think we are beginning to see that kind of change … but we have to do it as a community.”