Guilford County Schools Prepare For Summer Reading Camp Despite Funding Shortfall

Guilford County Schools doesn't have enough funding to adequately meet the state mandate for summer reading instruction for third graders. 

The district estimates around 2,000 students won't meet proficiency standards for literacy based on end of year test scores. Those students will be invited to attend a three week reading camp in July and retested after the program.

Whitney Oakley oversees curriculum and instruction for the school system. She says there aren't enough resources available to help educators solve the issue.

“What research tells us is that in order for summer programming to be effective, it needs to be six weeks in length and it needs to have a small teacher to student ratio,” says Oakley. “When we try to make those two things happen, it doesn't match up to the funding that was provided by the state for this initiative.”

Oakley says this year camp will be shortened to three weeks and the class size will increase from 15 to 20.

“The other piece that would be helpful is if the legislature would consider additional funding so we can start earlier. Why wait until third grade? It's often the same students that are struggling in third grade who are struggling when they are six and seven years old,” says Oakley.

Last year, a private donation and additional Title I funds allowed the district to hire more teachers and provide services to second graders.

About one in six students passed the proficiency test at the end of that summer reading camp. But some other campers who were placed in transitional 4^th grade classrooms also showed significant progress.

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