news-record.com

The days of Guilford County Schools students ambling to class to relearn polynomials or literary genres while their friends hit the beach during the hottest days of the year are over. At least this summer.

For the first time, the district will not offer face-to-face instruction in classrooms this summer. Instead, most students who need to pass a class or exam will complete their work at home, the library or wherever they can access the Internet. The online-only approach, piloted at Northern High School last year, will help the district shrink its summer school budget from roughly $438,000 to $86,000.

Summer school begins July 13 and lasts 19 days.

“Parents have been asking us for five years to allow classes at home and we have said, 'No, no, no,’ ” said Steve McGrath, who oversees high school curriculum. “This is the first time we have said, 'OK, we are ready now,’ and parents seem to be happy about that.”

The changes are part of a dual trend of school systems incorporating more online learning and cutting back summer programs for financial reasons.

A survey conducted this year by the N.C. School Boards Association found that most of the 63 responding districts either had reduced the scope of summer school or eliminated it altogether over the past few years.

Last year, Guilford ended summer classes for elementary students and provided online and traditional classes at 15 high schools. This year, the district will offer supervised computer access at only three high schools. All students can contact “online coaches” if they need help.

Officials say the new format enables students to complete the work on their own schedules so that they may take summer jobs, baby-sit younger siblings, participate in summer camps or attend sports training. The district also can use the savings to pay for tutoring and other services for struggling students during the school year.

“It’s not proactive waiting until summer school,” McGrath said. “To use that money throughout the year is more proactive and it puts kids back on track to be successful.”

More than 1,500 middle and high school students enrolled in summer classes in 2010, with 759 of those students receiving instruction directly from teachers. This year, the district expects to enroll roughly the same number of students but virtually all of them will complete the work outside of school.

Southwest High School also will pilot a class that provides customized algebra lessons on the popular Apple iPads. The 20 handheld devices and a six-year software lease cost $8,000.

Administrators hope to expand iPad use to other schools during the school year, but math teacher Andy Maness doubts this could work in larger settings.

“Some kids could come in and get lost and do nothing,” said Maness, who is participating in the pilot at Southwest. “It would be easy for kids to sneak under the radar.”

Officials will evaluate the pilot and other changes to determine if they help increase the percentage of students passing state tests. Only 31 percent of participating high school students passed end-of-course exams during the summer last year even though most of them passed the course.

“We’ll see after this year how it goes,” McGrath said. “I don’t think we are going to jump on that ship yet until we see the results.”

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com