In-person summer school dates for Sumter School District set

After learning loss and other challenges associated with virtual learning during the last year, all Sumter School District schools will offer summer school in June for students in the most need.

The summer session will run for about four weeks from June 7-July 1, and the district's Office of Academics shared details on both the K-8 version and the high school model with the district's Board of Trustees on Monday at its work session.

In all elementary and middle schools - which encompasses grades K-8 - the summer session will be four days per week for students who failed the grade and others in need of remediation, according to district Chief of Schools Brenda Hafner.

The four-week summer school will mirror the guidelines for the district's Read To Succeed camps, and the majority of students will be in person and face to face with class sizes generally at 10 to 12 students to maximize individual instruction, she added.

Bus transportation and meals will be provided to students.

Virtual instruction, or e-learning, during summer school will only be offered to students who have a documented medical reason for why they cannot physically attend, added Superintendent Penelope Martin-Knox.

The high school version of summer school will be offered during the same timeframe as the K-8 model and will serve as a "credit recovery program" for students who failed a course this year. Some of that coursework will be offered through the state-sponsored online program, Virtual S.C., but transportation will still be provided to campus for high-schoolers for tutoring and additional assistance daily from classroom teachers.

Meals will also be provided at the high schools.

Hafner and district Executive Director of Instruction Jade McLeod both noted the priority for in-person learning.

"It's the state's intent that we provide the face-to-face instruction," McLeod said. "They want us to be back face to face five days a week, and we already knew that is what is best for students. The last year has illustrated just how important that direct, face-to-face instruction is."

To assist with students' social and emotional needs in light of the pandemic, wrap-around services will also be available during summer school from counselors, social workers and others.

All staff working during the summer will be compensated through federal emergency stimulus funding allotted to the district. Teachers will be paid $50 per hour and paraprofessionals $30 an hour.

All schools will also offer Summer Jump Start camps in July for students with the most need and also those in "transition groups" - or students moving up to the next grade span (pre-K to kindergarten, fifth grade to sixth grade and eighth grade to ninth grade).

CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE VIRTUAL MEETING THURSDAY

School board Chairwoman Barbara Jackson also announced Monday that the board's newly formed Citizens Advisory Committee will meet for the first time virtually on Thursday.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m.

Jackson and Martin-Knox will facilitate the meeting, and 20 members of the public serve on the committee along with three school principals and one classroom teacher.