District outlines 16-day summer learning plan, third-grade —Read to Succeed— requirements

The Colleton County School District presented its summer learning program plans to the board committee on April 8, describing a 16-day schedule, two campus locations, supports for transportation and meals, and a targeted third-grade —Read to Succeed— remediation camp.

Why it matters: the program includes the district's mechanism for third-grade students who did not meet state reading expectations to pursue promotion via summer instruction and available good-cause exemptions under state law.

Program basics presented by Janice Hedden: the district will operate two summer campuses. Forest Hills Elementary will host pre-K (4K), second and third graders and migrant students; Colleton County Middle School will host gap students (grades 6—8) and content-recovery/twilight programs for middle- and high-school students. The school day is 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and the program runs for 16 days in June. Transportation and meals will be provided for most students; some twilight and middle-school recovery students will not receive transportation, Hedden said.

Attendance and behavior: attendance is a strict requirement because instruction time is limited. Hedden said a student may not miss more than two days; students who exceed that limit are dropped from the program and their seat may be reassigned. The district will drop students for significant behavior incidents; bus referrals can result in loss of bus privilege and removal from the program if parents cannot provide transportation.

Third-grade Read to Succeed: Hedden explained statutory context and implementation. She said South Carolina's Read to Succeed work began with Act 284 (2014) and was amended by Act 114 (Governor McMaster) to emphasize the science of reading and required elements (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension). Hedden described the district's use of a summer reading camp for third graders who scored "does not meet" on the state SC Ready assessment. She noted several good-cause exemptions that can allow promotion (limited English proficiency with less than two years of instruction in English; specified IEP conditions; successful summer reading-camp performance with an acceptable result on the district-administered summative assessment; two prior years of targeted intervention and prior retention). Hedden also said the state this year decided not to permit re-administration of the SC Ready test at the end of the camp; instead the state provided alternative assessment guidance.

Staffing and services: Forest Hills summer staff will include a director, reading coach, reading interventionist, teachers, assistants, a librarian, office clerk, PowerSchool clerk and a school nurse. The middle-school program and twilight/recovery programs will have their own staffing and a nurse on the middle-school site. Hedden said student applications open in April and close in May; staffing is kept minimal to control costs, and behavior expectations are strict to preserve limited instructional time.

Ending: Hedden invited questions from the board; trustees asked about field trips, library involvement and summer literacy programming for older students. Hedden said field trips will be provided for early grades at Forest Hills but not for twilight and middle/high recovery students due to funding limits; she also said the district previously offered more expansive programming when ESSER funds were available and indicated funding constraints limit summer expansion now.