Montgomery County Schools Will Again Charge for Summer Classes

Students taking summer school credits may be subject to a fee for the first time in several years.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) used its federal Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund (ESSER) during the pandemic to waive summer school fees. Those funds have been reduced substantially by the federal government.

During the Board of Education’s (BOE) Thursday business meeting, members agreed to charge $350 per credit course with reductions for needy students, those who attend Title 1 schools and those who are emergent language learners.

During 2019, when the fees were last levied, 3,410 students enrolled in summer school. During the 2023 summer session, more than 13,000 students enrolled.

The main goals of MCPS’s summer school program are to help students improve their math and language art skills and to enable high school students obtain enough credits to graduate...

https://www.mymcmedia.org/montgomery-county-schools-will-again-charge-for-summer-classes/

MCPS Summer School Focuses on ‘Highly Impacted’ Students by Invitation Only

This year MCPS Summer School will be invitation only. 

“The school system is shifting back to its pre-pandemic structure that targets students that would benefit most from a summer program,” according to MCPS spokesperson, Jessica Baxter.

Registration for summer school opened May 15, but not all students were able to register. MCPS says this shift focuses on the students most impacted.  Jessica Baxter, the school system’s spokesperson, noted emergency funds the district received to address pandemic-related learning loss, is winding down...

MCPS Summer School Focuses on 'Highly Impacted' Students by Invitation Only - Montgomery Community Media (mymcmedia.org)

MCPS: SUMMER SCHOOL STAFFING ALMOST COMPLETE

Montgomery County Public Schools has almost filled all teaching positions for summer school, the administration announced during their Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.

Currently, about 52,500 students will be attending summer school, which is the most the school district has ever had, said Assistant Superintendent Niki Hazel. Some of the students have opted to participate virtually.

The central high school academic program, which offers students classes for grade replacement, improvement or in some instances, original credit, began June 28. About 5,700 students have enrolled in this program.

The other summer school offerings will start the following week.

“For almost all of our programs, we are actually at 95, 96%” staffing, Hazel said. At the high school program, teaching and support staff is 98% filled, she said. The virtual kindergarten through eighth grade program is staffed at 88% and the in-school program for those grades is at 85%, she said, noting that each day the number of filled positions increases...

https://www.mymcmedia.org/mcps-summer-school-staffing-almost-complete/?fbclid=IwAR0DrzeAUCk-ttEv4KIHwnMcXdo7Vdqn-fItPz6XMgUzJgyH9HvJKC6opqw

Montgomery County elementary school parents sound off about summer school enrollment issues - 46,000 Students Registered for Summer School

 ROCKVILLE, Md. - Some parents in Montgomery County are sounding off about why their kids in some elementary schools, may not be able to attend summer school this year.

"Basically I have gotten a ‘Too bad, so sad, none of us can help you,’ and you know that MCPS committed to offering in person summer school for every MCPS student," said Betty Ball, who has two sons, one of whom is a rising Kindergartner...

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/montgomery-county-elementary-school-parents-sound-off-about-summer-school-enrollment-issues

Some BOE Members "Appalled" at Council Report, Cite Fee Based Programs as Examples of Closing Achievement Gap

Note that the Student Member of the Board of Education does not vote or participate in the creation of the MCPS Operating Budget, yet he was included on the letter from some Board of Education members allegedly detailing how the Board of Education allocates funds. 

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Board of Education Members Say Report on Spending is Wrong and ‘Offensive’


Board President Patricia O’Neill and members Phil Kauffman, Chris Barclay and Judy Docca along with student member Eric Guerci released a statement rebuking the report, released last week by the County Council’s Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO).
The report, which examined how Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) focuses resources at schools with higher levels of poverty, faulted the school system for not spending $47 million in what’s called compensatory aid at those schools.
The state provided $151 million in compensatory aid to MCPS for the 2014-2015 school year. The money is prescribed for programs in high-poverty schools to help close the academic achievement gap, but MCPS is not legally required to spend the funds on those programs.
After the OLO report came out, Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers said MCPS needed to spread $47 million of the funding across the entire school system to make up for spending shortfalls due to years of tightening budgets.
Board members said “the report blithely misinterprets state education financing” according to the 2002 state law that allowed compensatory aid to be spent at a school system’s discretion.
“More puzzling and troubling, by its own admission, the OLO ignores in its analysis a huge list of well-funded programs and initiatives dedicated to narrowing achievement gaps,” the board members continued, pointing to programs including the Minority Achievement Program and Summer School as well as bringing the International Baccalaureate program to Watkins Mill and Seneca Valley high schools...

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Board-of-Education-Members-Say-Report-on-Spending-is-Wrong-and-Offensive/

Summer Learning

Open Letter to the Johns Hopkins Center for Summer Learning:

Dear Directors Fairchild and Libit:

I am writing you concerning the recent award to Montgomery County Public Schools of the "Champion of Summer Learning Award." While everyone in Montgomery County agrees that the ELO-SAIL is a valuable program, parents of students with disabilities were extremely discouraged to see MCPS awarded as a "champion of summer learning" when MCPS has engaged in a campaign over the last several years to eliminate, reduce, and cut back extended school year services for students with disabilities.

As you know, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides for extended school year services during the summer for students with disabilities who meet certain criteria. MCPS had to be sued many years ago in federal court in order to force them to comply with this portion of the law. MCPS was monitored for several years on their compliance and provision of services.

Since the monitoring has ceased, however, MCPS has systematically reduced the amount of extended school year services available during the summer, found more children "ineligible" than in previous years, and reduced the quantity of services that they do provide to eligible children.

Children with disabilities, including severe disabilities like autism, come from families of all socio-economic backgrounds and ethnicities. Surely the Center for Summer Learning sees the corresponding need for high-quality summer education programs provided to students with disabilities, who, just like the students in the ESO-SAIL program, could benefit from programs targeted to maintain their skills and boost those skills in preparation for the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, many students with disabilities who need this summer programming are not getting it.

Would you be willing to issue a statement from your organization (the National Center for Summer Learning) supporting providing summer services to students with disabilities and encouraging MCPS to follow both the Letter and the Spirit of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act with regard to Extended School Year Services? I anxiously await your response.

Sincerely,

Lyda Astrove
Rockville, MD