Gary Moskowitz
State grant money and school site funds will prevent many elementary
summer school classes from being cut this year, and will allow
Glendale Unified to serve more students than last year.
Had the state grant money and a few hundred dollars in school site
funds not been thrown into the pot, the district might have served
about 50 fewer students with remedial instruction because of state
budget cuts, said Gina Nolte, coordinator of early education and
extended learning programs for the district.
"We had one pot of money for 11 schools and basically just divided
it up and said, 'You each get the same number of slots,' " Nolte
said. "But schools like Cerritos and Franklin who had extra class
space and who could afford it, chipped in for extra."
Summer Academy provides remedial instruction and literacy
development for traditional elementary school students in grades two
through six who have been retained, are at-risk of being retained or
are not meeting grade-level standards.
The district served 552 Summer Academy students in 2003, and is
expecting about 639 students this year.
Two new programs -- the Newcomers Academy for immigrant students
and the Jump-Start program for entering kindergartners -- were pilot
ones last year and will be offered in 2004.
Since the two programs are funded through special state grants,
they serve students outside of the district's normal state summer
school apportionment, Nolte said. The funding amount of the state
grants was not available Friday.
Since summer school funding is lumped into the complete school
year fund allocation, officials Friday said they were unable to say
how much the district spent overall on summer school in 2003 and what
its projected costs will be this year.
The Glendale Preparatory Academy provides remedial instruction for
year-round elementary school students when they are off-track. The
Preparatory Academy acts as a "summer school" for year-round
students, and is funded by the same money as Summer Academy.
Overall, summer school will serve only the students with the
greatest remedial needs, said Alice Petrossian, assistant
superintendent for educational services for the district.
"Kids meeting grade-level standards are considered to be in the
50th percentile, and our summer school used to serve kids up to
almost the 40th percentile," Petrossian said. "Now, we will be down
in the 26th percentile range, because of budget cuts."
Glendale Community College will offer a five-week, fee-based
Enrichment Summer School program for Glendale students looking to
take extra classes in subjects like reading, writing, math, science,
technology, art and drama.
The enrichment program will be offered from June 21 to July 23 at
Fremont and Lincoln elementary schools. The program fee will be $370
per student, up $20 from last year.
