PEORIA -- Here is the research Sharon Crews, a retired Peoria School District 150 teacher, has done on the failure rates and the District's decision to cancel summer school. She presented it to the board on April 26 with this speech:
Summer school in 2009 cost the district over
$62,000. The total cost was about $93,000
counting the cost of security with only $27,500 paid through tuition.
Not only was last summer probably the most costly summer school ever but also the enrollment at 413 was lower than ever before. Before 2003, summer school was almost totally self-funded, but since then the district has lost money every summer.
On page
1 of my handouts, the columns highlighted in green indicate the number of
students who went to summer school from each high school to repeat English. That number is compared to the number who
failed English for the last three completed semesters. An extremely low percentage of students make
up courses in the summer.
In fact, of the 900 students who failed
English in 2009, only 153 repeated the courses in summer school in 2009.
Adding the failures from 1st semester of this year brings the total who failed English to 1,046. Adding the number who will fail English this semester will probably bring the total to 1,300. Remember these numbers don’t include the failures in math, social studies, and science.
I believe you are planning a very limited summer school for this summer. When are all these students going to make up the courses they have failed? Remember my numbers don’t even consider the students from 2008 who probably haven’t made up failed classes yet.
What are your answers to these questions?
#1 - Will there be enough time, classroom space, and teachers during the regular school year at just 3 high schools for all these students to take two or more English classes a semester so that they can graduate on time?
#2 - Should taxpayers be asked to pay for
these students to repeat classes in the regular year or even in summer school?
#3 - Can District 150’s education fund afford to pay for these students to repeat classes? Remember, no matter when the students repeat the courses, there will be a drain on the education fund.
I believe that 150 should follow its
previous policy of allowing students to take only one English class per semester. Such a policy would force students to repeat
the course in summer school if they want to graduate on time.
NCLB and all of you are concerned with the graduation rate. Students who are allowed to accumulate failed courses from one year to the next eventually become so discouraged that they drop out. Forcing students to catch up in summer school at the end of each school year could possibly improve the dropout rate.
Look at page 2--Last summer 308 students eligible
for free lunch were charged only $30 per course. 98 such students were enrolled in two
classes. 102 students paid the full
tuition of $160 per course.
I see no way around it—you have to offer
summer school on a much larger scale and you have to find a way to fund
it—maybe Jim Ardis, Glen Barton and Rob Parks have some suggestions.
Seriously, don’t give the three of them a reason to take any more of your power.
Pages 3 and 4 will probably tell you why
last year’s summer school was so expensive.
Only from 1 to 9 students signed
up for 33 of the 53 courses offered.
Undoubtedly, as usual, there was some doubling up and some were credit
recovery, but still my guess is that classes were very small.
I wish you could compare the numbers with
summer school figures from the years before 2002 but strangely those figures
are not available. I was told a year ago
that they couldn’t be located.
I hope you will consider making summer school mandatory for students who fail classes and that you will find a way to fund this very necessary and once very successful program. It was the closest to year-round school that 150 has ever had—and may ever be able to afford.
Also, isn’t it a shame that when Dr. Lathan
first introduces herself to the public at her first board meeting that the TV
viewing public will have to wait a week to view the meeting. -30-
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