Wilson County credits summer programs with test gains, warns cuts could end services

At its Aug. 18 meeting, the Wilson County Board of Education heard results showing that this year’s summer programs produced measurable test-score gains and helped hundreds of students recover credits — and district leaders warned cuts to federal funds could threaten those programs.

District staff reported that summer retesting produced 699 new proficient scores — students who passed after attending summer sessions and would not have passed otherwise. “699 students passed that would not have passed without summer school,” said Miss May, a district staff member, during the Instructional Services Committee presentation. The district also reported a combined EOG and EOC gain of 6.3 percentage points from summer interventions.

The district provided a breakdown of summer work across grade bands. Kindergarten through third-grade reading instruction, delivered over three weeks, produced gains for most participants: kindergarten showed a 68.75 percent increase in the assessed group’s performance; first grade showed a 65 percent increase; second grade had an average gain of 29.3 Lexile points and 16 students moved to reading proficiency; and third grade had 42 students reach reading proficiency for the state Read to Achieve requirement. Middle-school math gains ranged from about 12 to 25 percentage points on the district pre/post assessments. High-school summer school enrolled about 140 students who recovered 113 course credits; district staff said summer programming added 21 graduates to the class of 2025.

District officials also highlighted career and college outcomes tied to summer and year‑round programming: the district reported 909 college credits earned under the College and Career Promise program this year, and staff said graduates received roughly $18,000,000 in scholarship offers with $6,000,000 accepted; staff noted that students at W.A. Fike (referred to in the presentation as “Waco”) received about $10,000,000 in scholarship offers.

The board heard examples of hands-on summer programming, including partnerships with Johnson & Johnson and the Smithsonian that let middle-school students perform biotechnology activities. Staff described summer CTE offerings in health science, drones, computer science, agriculture, carpentry and culinary and said industry partners participated in several programs.

While staff emphasized the programs’ academic impact, members raised financial concerns. “All of this shows what you can do when you have money that you can use to keep these programs going,” said Board Member Beverly Boyette. She and others said that many summer initiatives this year relied on one-time federal funds (ESSER), Title I carryover and other temporary dollars. The board was told those federal funds are being reduced for the coming year, and district leaders expressed concern the district will not be able to sustain the breadth of summer offerings without new or continuing funding.

Board members asked staff to highlight which parts of the program are state‑funded and therefore likely to continue (for example, some second- and third-grade summer courses tied to state funding), and which rely on federal carryover. The presentation did not include a complete itemized budget for all summer programming; staff said funding sources and sustainability were topics for further planning.

The summer results presentation included praise from board members and the administration and was offered as evidence that targeted summer instruction and community partnerships can produce measurable gains. District staff recommended continued pursuit of partnerships and external funding to preserve programs as budget planning continues this fall.