Summer school was intended to help students catch up after many schools were closed for in-person learning this year, but parents are finding the woes are continuing.
Montgomery County, Maryland, schools are holding summer school virtually, much to the dismay of parents like Stefanie Marques.
Marques’s daughter enrolled, “but never received confirmation or the Zoom link or even the teacher’s name,” Fox 5 reported.
She said she has called the administration and the school, “but so far she says, there is no response.”
“They don’t even pretend to care,” the mother told Fox 5, “and we purposely live in this area for Montgomery County schools and for the support and education that they are supposed to provide and yet to get nothing, I mean they don’t even care.”
Other parents told Marques they are experiencing similar frustrations “of not receiving a Zoom link, or information on how to contact the teacher and lack of communication from MCPS (Montgomery County Public Schools).”
According to USA Today:
Millions of children this summer will participate in what’s expected to be the largest summer-school program in history, powered by more than $1.2 billion in targeted federal post-pandemic assistance from the American Rescue Plan.
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After a school year in which many of the nation’s approximately 56 million K-12 students struggled through some form of remote learning, lost classroom days and social isolation, summer 2021 programs face the daunting task of teaching not just about math, history and English, but also addressing widespread mental health challenges among students, and in some cases, dealing with nutrition issues for children who missed out on weeks or months of school meals.
Schools in Lee County, Florida, experienced a “surge” in enrollment “after the pandemic’s impact on end-of-year test scores,” WINK reported. Performance on the Florida Statewide Assessment dropped eight points on the English and language arts portion.
Participation in the Hutto, Texas, district is “much higher compared to previous years, associate superintendent Robert Sormani told Community Impact.
“The back and forth of in-person and virtual instruction throughout the year played a big part in students falling behind, Sormani said,” the paper reported.
Enrollment tripled in Tucson, Arizona.
“The reasons for the increase in summer school attendance include an expansion of free summer programs, kids making up for poor grades during remote learning and parents who want their children to reconnect with peers and their school, educators say,” Government Technology reported.
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays–download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.