District keeping classes for those most in need

Dodge City Public Schools saved $100,000 by reducing the number of slots in its summer school programs this year.
    Although 20 percent fewer students than usual will spend the month of June hitting the books, the district will still serve between 1,500 and 1,600 children, superintendent Alan Cunningham said Tuesday.
    The district began planning for reduced summer enrollment in March, in response to the state legislature's anticipated cuts to education. When those huge cuts hit, Dodge City school board members and administrators were able to balance the budget without any staff layoffs by slashing the district's capital outlay fund, implementing student fees and cutting back on some student services.
    Summer school was one of those services.
    "We usually enroll about 2,000 kids, but we had to cut back somewhere, so we decided to give services to the students with the greatest need," said Cunningham. "We have a multi-tiered system of student support, and that was what guided our selection process ."
    Cunningham said that children receiving Tier Three support require a significant amount of assistance in order to make appropriate academic progress, and that all of these students were offered summer school slots.
    A small percentage of Tier Two children, who need more limited help, were also included, while students classified as Tier One were not eligible for summer school this year.
    "Tier One kids don't need much extra help in the classroom, so we decided to make a cut there" said Cunningham. "We'd really love to be able to include everyone, but with these kinds of funding cuts, we had to make our priority the students with the greatest need. Most of the $100,000 we saved was in faculty pay — 20 percent fewer kids means 20 percent fewer teachers."
    Cunningham said that some Dodge City High School summer students don't need any extra academic help at all — they just have to get that gym credit out of the way if they want to graduate.
    "Some of our high school students participate in a number of activities that prevent them from taking P.E. during the regular school year,"  he said. "Their schedules just don't permit it. And frankly, we can't accommodate all of our high schoolers at once, so we encourage them to take P.E. in the summer."
    Summer school funding for Dodge City's special education students doesn't come out of the district's budget. That's paid for by the Special Education Consortium.
    Still, not every special education student is eligible for summer school  — this year or any other.
    "Special education students who have summer school included in their I.E.P., or Individual Education Plan, are enrolled, but every student with an exceptionality isn't automatically eligible," said Cunningham.
    He said that the consortium reserves summer school for those special education students who stand to lose much of the gains made during the regular school year without the additional support of summer school.
    Whether they are special education students, just need extra help with math, or plan to spend a month playing volleyball in the high school gym, there's one thing all Dodge's summer school students have in common: they all have to get up early on June 1.
    That's the first day of summer school, and it starts right on time.

Reach Claire O'Brien at (620)408-9931 or e-mail her at claire.obrien@dodgeglobe.com.