Summer School No Longer on the House

Summer school for Las Virgenes Unified School District students will come at a price this year as state budget cuts have forced the district to eliminate free courses.  

In previous years, middle school and high school students  entered a lottery to win a spot in a free remedial summer school course. The district also offered free enrichment and remedial courses for elementary students on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Now anyone who wants to go to summer school will have to pay for it.

"Unfortunately, due to cuts in state funding, we can now only offer fee-based summer school options," said Dave Moorman, a member of the Las Virgenes board of education. "But we are happy that through our partners we can continue to offer summer school, and we are looking forward to positive results for our students and our community."

High school and middle school courses will be offered through the Las Virgenes Educational Foundation, which is moving beyond its traditional offering of fee-based acceleration courses to also provide remedial courses previously available through the district.

A six-week curriculum composed of two high school courses that each run for two and a half hours Tuesday through Friday costs $550, while a three-week, one-course program is $400. For middle school students, the six-week program is $500 and the three-week program is $350. Both middle and high school classes will be held at Agoura High School. All courses (except for chemistry) begin June 22 and end July 29. Registration began April 12 and will open to out-of-district students April 22.

Marymount College is stepping in to provide fee-based enrichment and remedial courses for students in grades 1 through 5, a service that until this year was offered free of charge by the district. At a cost of $595, the program will run five days a week, five hours per day, for five weeks at Lupin Hill Elementary School beginning June 21 and ending July 23. Registration continues through May 24.

Financial aid will not be offered for either fee-based summer school program.

" I believe in trying to offer our students as many opportunities as possible," said Jill Gaines, a member of the Las Virgenes board of education. "In difficult economic times such as these, we will look at various ways to continue to offer programs."

Stuart Selter, president of the Las Virgenes Educational Foundation, said the district helped his organization prepare to offer the remedial high school courses in addition to its usual schedule of classes. He said his staff is up to the task of offering more courses than usual and that additional district teachers have been hired  to handle the increased classes.

The foundation, created in the 1980s and operated by education specialists as a means to supplement district funds and services, is funded by parent teacher associations, parent faculty associations and booster clubs.

About 930 students enrolled in the foundation's high school courses last year, a figure that is expected to increase by 25 or 30 percent with new remedial classes for high school and middle school students, Selter said.

Although paying for such courses may not be the ideal scenario for parents, an influx of students is still expected because a fee-based summer school may be the only way for some students to catch up. "[Parents] do not want their students to fall behind in classes and jeopardize graduating on time," Selter said.

Moorman said he has encouraged other parents to enroll their children and is still mulling the decision for his son. The cost, he said, is comparable to that of other programs being offered in the area.

Another board member, Lesli Stein, said she has already enrolled her two children in the elementary school program. Class time will focus on reading, math, writing, social studies and science. Music, art and physical education are also scheduled. Enrichment and remedial classes will be offered at each grade level.

"We are thrilled to be starting a new partnership with Marymount College," Stein said. "This will be a tremendous option for our younger students."