Carmel Unified School District officials presented a summer school overview to the school board, reporting program activities, partner organizations and attendance figures while flagging participation challenges tied to State of California requirements and transportation barriers. Deputy Superintendent Dr. Mary Petty introduced the presentation and summer school administrator Lee Cambra and special education director Dr. Steve Gonzales outlined programs for TK–6, credit recovery, and extended school year services.
The presentation matters because the district’s summer programs are intended both to provide enrichment and to prevent learning loss for students with identified needs; participation rates and program design affect equity, staffing and long-term planning.
Cambra described program partners and site placements. The YMCA provided afternoon programming that ran to 5:30 p.m. for invited students; the Monterey County Libraries ran a pirate-themed reading pop-up during the first week of summer school; Stage Kids, an arts program based in Big Sur, ran afternoon sessions at Captain Cooper; and the Carmel Valley Community Youth Center supported swim lessons. Cambra said the district ran credit-recovery courses for high school students through an Edmentum program and placed some summer programming at Captain Cooper to serve Big Sur families locally.
Cambra provided enrollment and completion numbers: “193 UPP students were invited and 67 actually attended,” and of 164 students recommended for summer support, 65 accepted. For credit recovery, she reported 21 students signed up, 18 attended, 14 completed one course and four completed two. On extended school year (ESY) services for students with individualized education programs, Dr. Gonzales said the district had about 30 students who qualified and approximately 11 accepted and attended. He explained ESY eligibility is set by an IEP team and is intended to prevent regression: “If the student does attend its extended school year, it isn’t to get them ahead. It really is to support what they currently learned during the school year so that they can maintain the skills and the knowledge that they received.”
Board members praised the program and its partnerships. Board Member Matt Glaser said the Stage Kids collaboration “was an unquestionable success” for families in Big Sur, and other board members highlighted leadership development among high school volunteers. Cambra noted the district typically has 12–15 high school volunteers who assist in classroom and PE settings and that many volunteers earn roughly 50 hours of community service.
Board discussion also focused on participation constraints. Cambra and other speakers said compliance with more prescriptive State of California requirements makes it harder for the district to design programs families will accept, especially in a geographically dispersed district where long summer days and travel deter some families. Cambra said the district is exploring alternatives, including site-based partnerships with the Carmel Youth Center and other local providers to increase access and decrease travel burdens.
District staff described logistics and supports for summer programs: transportation, food service, health aide coverage and specialized services (occupational therapy, speech, behavioral support, and specialized academic instruction for ESY). Cambra thanked staff and community partners—including bus drivers, food services, volunteer high school students and the Friends of Kishawa—for supporting camp and swim weeks, and said planning for next year has already begun.
The district presented the overview as information only; no board action was requested. Officials said they will refine the invitation and communication processes, continue outreach to community partners to expand site options, and explore transportation alternatives to improve participation in future summers.