Following last week’s high school graduations, some area schools are going right back to work this week, beginning summer enrichment programming for students. But after three years of holding larger numbers, schools are planning scaled-back summer programming this year.
The end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds is affecting school districts across the state and nation that have used the money for summer instruction to make up for time missed due to the coronavirus pandemic. After several weeks of programming in 2021 and extended sessions the last two years, schools in eastern North Carolina are scheduled to return much of their summer programming to pre-pandemic levels.
The N.C. Department of Public Instruction reports that, in the wake of COVID, school districts across the state spent more than $35 million in state and federal funds on summer programs to combat learning loss. According to the state, much of that summer program funding has been depleted.
Nash County Public Schools officials said they are feeling the brunt of those funds drying up.
“(With relief funding ending), the greatest impact is the district’s inability to serve more students through district-sponsored summer programming,” said Heather Louise Finch, the school system’s executive director of communication, planning and engagement. “This means that without partnerships with community agencies, summer slides could potentially increase.”
In 2021, when the state required school districts to provide summer instruction to help combat learning loss, Nash County Public Schools invited 4,582 students in grades K-12 to participate in summer school. But the district has seen those numbers decline in subsequent years. In 2022, 3,281 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade were invited to summer sessions, and the number dropped to 2,836 last year.
This year, the school system has invited about 600 second- and third-graders to attend Read to Achieve, scheduled to begin July 8. This summer program was mandated by the state years before the coronavirus pandemic.
Edgecombe County Public Schools also will hold a Read to Achieve Camp for second- and third-grade students who have not demonstrated reading proficiency during the school year. Proficiency is based on state assessments such as the beginning of grade reading assessment, reading end-of-grade tests or Mclass literacy assessments given throughout the year. Sessions will begin July 10 at several sites, including one in Rocky Mount for students who attended Baskerville, Fairview or D.S. Johnson elementary schools this year.
Those schools, along with J.W. Parker Middle will become part of Edgecombe County Public Schools in July as part of the demerger agreement between the two school systems in the Twin Counties.
“This will be the actual first opportunity to work with those students that will be coming in,” Thomas Holland executive director of accountability, testing, and data analysis, told the Edgecombe County Board of Education this spring.
While the Department of Public Instruction reports that little relief funding remains for summer programming, schools across the state have about $21 million to spend on Summer Career Acceleration programs.
Edgecombe County’s Summer Career Accelerator program began this week and continues on Monday and Tuesday for about 48 rising seventh-graders and rising 12th-grade students. It is a partnership with District C, a nonprofit organization that connects small groups of high school students and local companies with the intention of finding solutions for problems within that company.
For the third year, Nash County Public Schools also are holding Career and Technical Education Summer Camps for rising sixth- through 10th-graders. Camps, which begin Wednesday and continue Mondays through Thursdays until June 27, include field trips, guest speakers and activities designed to introduce students to various careers.
“They learn about careers. They learn about colleges. They learn so much about themselves,” Donna Cady, middle school career development coordinator with Nash County Public Schools, said in a promotional video for the camps.
In addition to touring some area businesses, students also visit N.C. Wesleyan University, Nash Community College and Edgecombe Community College as well as the campuses of their middle schools or high schools. Cady said that is especially helpful for students who will attend school on a new campus beginning in August. Last year’s camp was a first for rising sixth-graders.
“They had the opportunity to meet students that they may not have ever met before. They have an opportunity to be very familiar with the campus and with the way that things work on campus,” she said. “There are so many things to be anxious about on the first day at a brand new school. But this, I really think, gives students a wonderful opportunity to know what to expect.”
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