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Huntsville City Schools to expand elementary summer program under Alabama Literacy Act
Summary
District described its K–3 summer program designed to meet Alabama Literacy Act requirements, including selection criteria, staffing, schedules, testing and partnerships with community providers.
Huntsville City Schools presented details of its elementary summer-learning plan to comply with the Alabama Literacy Act and provide 60 in-person instructional hours for students with reading plans.
District staff said the program will invite any kindergarten through third-grade student who has a Student Reading Improvement Plan; letters will go out Feb. 10. After ACAP testing begins March 17, staff will send invitation letters to additional second- and third-grade students who do not meet the ACAP score this year. The presentation said failure to meet the third-grade ACAP benchmark can result in retention unless a student subsequently meets checkpoint or supplemental criteria.
Summer enrollment will be constrained by certified-teacher availability; staff said schools will identify eligible students and requested returned letters by March to allow staffing and waiting-list planning. The district aims for a 15:1 student-teacher ratio. Schools will send acceptance, decline and wait-list lists to district directors in April so staffing and placement decisions are complete before spring break.
Program logistics: summer sessions will run Monday–Thursday from about 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. during June (exact start/end dates were presented as month-only). The district will observe Juneteenth and close that day. Teachers will be paid $300 per day and site facilitators $350 per day (as presented). Breakfast and lunch will be provided daily. Transportation will be provided based on interest noted on the parent form.
The district named summer sites chosen for feeder patterns and existing feeding programs: Dawson, Farley, Montview, Morris Elementary, Rolling Hills, Sunny, Hertford, Weitzburg, Martin Luther King Jr. and Morris (the transcript lists these as sites; two names may be variants). The district plans to house ESY (special education extended-year) at Martin Luther King Jr. and EL programming at Morris Middle School. Staff said Boys & Girls Club will provide after-program care at some sites.
Board members asked whether families decline offers because of other summer programs or travel; staff said common reasons for declines were family vacations or students leaving the state for summer. Staff said program participants last year showed growth on I-Ready diagnostic data and that many students later passed the ACAP supplemental test. The presentation noted principals will form interview teams to hire summer teachers; principals will not interview their own building staff to ensure fairness.
Staff reiterated that the program is enrichment and remediation, not punitive, and emphasized partnerships to increase access.
