CPS officials predict no in-person summer school classes
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia Public Schools officials are set to discuss the outcome of summer school during a school board COVID-19 update work session Thursday.
CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said summer school will look different for CPS and that is it very likely the district will not have in-person summer classes.
"We are preparing for lots of different scenarios and coming up with options to support our kids through the summer," Baumstark said.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has not given school districts guidance for summer school. Baumstark said the state has only given guidance that relates to the regular school year.
"Every school district does summer school differently," Baumstark said. "In Columbia summer schools are pretty popular. We have ... close to 9,000 students that participate in summer school activities with us and so we are working through each one of those different things because there's so many different programs that are offered."
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has assembled a group school superintendents from across the state to have regular discussions of the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on K-12 education.
The group meets to discuss any formal recommendation, options and information regarding summer school that needs to be heard or be shared with school leaders.
"There's quite a bit of flexibility, that is already built in within the summer school options that currently exist," said Mallory McGowan, department communications coordinator. "So, that group is getting that information together and we hope to share that with school leaders very soon. If not, this week, certainly next week we're going to try to get that out."
Baumstark said there's a big learning curve for online classes and not everyone chooses online for a variety of reasons. But everyone is adjusting to that reality, she said.
CPS offers many programs during the summer and officials said there are different pieces of the puzzle to work out before making a final decision on what exactly summer school will look like.
CPS then plans to discuss summer school details via the online meeting tool Zoom and on its live broadcast on Thursday morning.
