Grand Island Public Schools reports summer-program expansion and attendance dips tied to immigration concerns

District officials presented an overview of summer 2025 programming at the Aug. 14 Grand Island Public Schools board meeting, listing enrollment counts, program types and funding sources and noting that attendance dipped during portions of the summer amid community concern over immigration enforcement.

Dr. Summer Stevens, who presented the report, said the district ran multiple programs: Summer Strong (Title I) served 161 students across eight Title I buildings; afternoon “Power Camp” (funded from Title IV) served initial signups around 225 before weekly counts fell to roughly 150–180; the EL summer program at Stully Park served about 120 students and introduced a “leaders and learners” model pairing older EL students with younger learners; extended school year services for students with IEPs included 29 elementary students and 12 students at middle/high; and GISH credit-recovery programming served about 176 students, producing 1,280 credits and live math instruction in some courses.

Stevens said the district estimated roughly “150 staff” supported summer work (she later said that number was probably closer to 200 when accounting for all employees who contributed) and that the district worked to include feeding sites at program locations. She also described grants and partnerships: a University of Nebraska–Lincoln grant will support after-school STEAM activities at Howard and Dodge schools, and district Jumpstart programs for incoming sixth- and ninth-graders drew several hundred participants combined.

Attendance and outreach: Stevens said participation declined after the first week of some programs as local immigration-related concerns grew. “We saw numbers go down in our kids that were coming to summer feedings, but we also saw that in our summer programs,” she said. Staff made calls and home visits in some cases, and the district worked with the Multicultural Coalition to connect families with resources. “We have an extensive plan for, anytime with immigration. We worked really hard on that last year. We’ve presented it to you all. Staff knows what to do, and they know the protocols of what to do,” Stevens told the board.

Funding: Stevens and other staff broke down funding sources referenced in the report. Summer Strong was funded with Title I funds; Power Camp relied on Title IV; some programs used LEP/EL funds; credit-recovery and Jumpstart programs drew on poverty funds; middle-school camps used Title IV; and district summer-feeding sites used federal meal program funds.

Why it matters: The programs are intended to support learning acceleration and meal access during the summer months; lower participation because of community fear of law-enforcement interactions may reduce the reach of those services.

Board questions and next steps: Board members asked whether programming levels had expanded from previous years and whether additional outreach might have increased participation; Stevens said leaders made home visits and other contacts and that staff would continue to prioritize outreach. The district will continue planning early for next summer — beginning in November/December — and will evaluate which programs to sustain or modify.

Ending: The board received the report as an information item and approved the student handbook later in the meeting; staff said they will continue outreach to families and pursue grant funding to sustain programming.