Board OKs Mandatory Summer Classes

By Peter Simon

All Buffalo pupils in prekindergarten through second grade will face mandatory summer school this year if they are below grade level in reading, the Board of Education was told Wednesday evening.

In addition, summer school will be required for pupils in grades 7 and 8 who do not pass English, math and either social studies or science.

The program is an extension of the mandatory summer school program launched last year and was greeted enthusiastically by board members. Nearly twice as many schools and pupils will be involved this year.

“This is not a punishment,” said Janique Curry, the board’s Central District representative. “It’s a chance for [the pupils] to stand on their own academic legs.”

Summer school also will be available for high school students who failed a Regents course and seniors who need one or two courses to graduate. Enrichment classes for students already doing well in English and math also will be available.

The board also voted unanimously to give Superintendent James A. Williams the authority to move forward with plans to create a “Superintendent’s School Improvement District” that would provide extra programming and resources for 16 city schools that are under state registration review for poor academic performance.

Students at those schools will have 21/2-hour periods of English language arts and hourlong periods of math, as well as a longer school day and school year. Teachers and administrators will be interviewed to determine if they are comfortable with the new structure. Williams said that details will be negotiated with the Buffalo Teachers Federation and that Frances Wilson, one of the district’s three community superintendents, will oversee the 16 schools.

In addition, the board voted to keep closer tabs on student conduct and school violence through its Student Support Committee. A resolution sponsored by Christopher Jacobs, an at-large board member, directs staff to provide reports at each meeting of the committee on all suspensions as well as “other pertinent information of which the board would be interested.”

Jacobs said the reports should be helpful in developing policies to better deal with student conduct.

e-mail: psimon@buffnews.com

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