SPUSD board approves summer
school, but not all are happy

The 2015 Santa Paula Unified School District summer school program has been approved by the SPUSD Board, but with some concerns expressed by board members about the program.

Summer school runs for four and a half weeks and this was of concern to school board members. Diana Ponce-Gomez noted that several years back, the former high school district had to cut back summer school due to state budget cuts. She said the unified board should have a discussion about bringing back some of the enrichment courses that used to be offered. “We used to do it,” she added. “I think we’re in a position now that we can talk about bringing it back.” She later added that summer school used to be longer than four weeks. Board member Michelle Kolbeck said she was disappointed that they are offering the same programs they already have. She noted that they should look at more enrichment classes at the high school, such as foreign language classes for students who are behind to get them back on track. “I’d like to see our district do more for our students,” Kolbeck said.

Assistant Superintendent Robin Freeman noted that they had conversations about offering core classes. “One concern is that we run a four and one half week program,” she said. “For students to be able to take a core class in four and a half weeks, comparable to a 38-week course is really challenging in the number of minutes we’re able to provide in the summer.” She said that for a student to take a full year of English in four and a half weeks there is just not enough time.

Kolbeck asked the board to give staff direction to look at offering enrichment classes for the summer. Ponce-Gomez also wants the district to consider extending the summer program the way it used to be. She said that maybe six weeks would be better. Freeman responded, saying that they could look at developing a six-week program for next year. She told the board that teachers give their all and they really need down time to get ready for the fall.

Board member Christina Urias said that the students most at risk are being served with the current program. “We are doing as much as we can for this year,” she added. Kolbeck said that they can put it off for another year but next year they may not have the money. “I feel we’re just status quo,” she added.

The Summer School for students in grades kindergarten through the 8th grade will be held at Blanchard School and the grades 9-12 program will take place at Santa Paula High School. There will be five special education classrooms, nine migrant education classrooms and one classroom for the ELD Program. Santa Paula High School will serve about 500 students during summer school.