Federal pandemic funding has allowed school districts to bolster summer school programs to address learning loss.
But as federal aid expires this year, districts are considering how (or if) they can maintain those summer school improvements.
“Money is not the answer to everything,” said Angela Henry, executive director of curriculum and elementary instruction for Caddo Parish Schools. “But the funding has certainly allowed us to do things we couldn’t do before.”
The district dedicated $19.4 million, or nearly 9% of its COVID funds, to summer school programs. The additional funding allowed the district to address learning gaps related to the pandemic, in “all students and all subjects,” rather than focusing solely on reading and math skills, Henry said.
After this year, the district will likely have to eliminate some of the extra classes that were added to the summer program, Henry said.
“We will still have summer programs,” he said. “But we’re going to have to make some policy decisions and prioritize funding for certain areas.”
Louisiana schools received about $4 billion of the $60 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds Congress appropriated to help schools recover from the pandemic. Schools were given a lot of freedom in spending the money, with options ranging from cleaning supplies to building upgrades and teacher training.
Schools across the state budgeted about $188.7 million in funding for summer learning and enrichment, according to a Louisiana Department of Education database that tracks ESSER spending.
Districts have until Sept. 30 to allocate the remaining ESSER money and until the end of December to spend it, according to the Department of Education. Schools can request an extension to use the funds until March 2026, but they will mostly be tied to contracts.
Despite increased federal funding, most students in the United States are still struggling to reach pre-2020 performance levels, according to a national report. Exam results for the 2023-2024 school year have not yet been released.
Research shows that summer tutoring and learning programs, if done right, can help with academic recovery, said Bella DiMarco, a policy analyst at the Georgetown University-based think tank FutureEd.
“Now, all of a sudden, we have to eliminate all these programs that research shows are effective,” he said. Without federal funding, schools will need to find “something different to accelerate learning.”
Louisiana students have recovered better than most of the US.
According to the report, by 2023, Louisiana students had made up all the ground they lost in reading and about half of what they lost in math. But divisions still exist: Black and Hispanic students lag further behind their peers.
In Lafayette Parish, students’ state test scores increased by three percentage points from 2019 to 2022. Part of the progress was due to the expansion of summer school, said Janine LaFleur, associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction. The district opened the program to all grade levels and made the courses free.
Over the past year, his summer school has “transformed into an opportunity for any student who for any reason has not been able to meet the requirements to have the opportunity to remain in their grade level,” he said.
It’s been worth it, LaFleur said: High school graduation rates and test scores have improved and fewer students have fallen behind.
The Lafayette Parish School Board plans to offer its expanded summer school program again next year and keep it free for families. To offset the loss of COVID money, the district turned to community partners, including the Stuller Family Foundation and the Pugh Family Foundation, for financial assistance.
“When the public schools are a success, the community is too,” LaFleur said. “That’s why so many people have come to help us.”
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