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District outlines eight-site summer program plan, expands middle-school offerings
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Summary
City School District of Albany presented a multi-site summer program plan that keeps most programs in 2025, shifts the middle-school program to three school-based sites, preserves transportation and meals, and lists funding sources including remaining federal ARP funds and other grants.
District staff presented details of the City School District of Albany’s 2025 summer programs to the board on May 8, outlining eight program types from Jump Start pre-K through high-school credit recovery.
The district will operate elementary enrichment at two sites (SPA and Toast), three middle-school sites (one at each middle school), Albany International Academy programs, a newcomer program at Albany High School, a dual-language program, a refugee support program, and high-school credit recovery and first-time-credit offerings.
Presenters said all summer sites will provide breakfast and lunch and that transportation will be provided for students who live more than 1.5 miles from their assigned program site. The district reported that the total high-school summer enrollment target is unchanged from last year (625 seats) and middle-school capacity totals 225 seats split across three sites; elementary seats are modestly below last year’s planned capacity but above 2023 levels.
Mr. Joffe, who presented the secondary portion, described the middle-school redesign as a deliberate shift to site-based programming so building staff can strengthen relationships: "This allows the faculty and staff from those buildings to work with their own kids to build a better relationship with their children and the students," he said. The middle-school summer day will be project-based and divided into humanities, STEM and social-emotional blocks.
The high-school program will continue to focus on course recovery, run Monday–Thursday mornings and use Apex for online credit recovery; first-time-credit options are limited this summer because of staffing and enrollment realities, and some first-time-credit classes are scheduled as virtual sections. Special-education extended-school-year (ESY) programming will be provided in person for eligible students; the district reported New York State reimburses 80% of ESY costs for July and August.
Presenters described funding as a mix of state, district, grant and remaining ARP (American Rescue Plan) funds; staffing reductions elsewhere and the winding down of federal COVID-relief streams were cited as reasons the district is using multiple funding sources to preserve summer offerings.
Board members asked about operational details (transportation, staffing coverage when teachers are sick, and why particular first-time-credit sections are virtual). Staff said transportation will be routed per site and that some choices (virtual versus in-person for specific courses) reflect teacher availability and student enrollment.
