Hamilton schools to offer summer classes on Internet
The school district plans to offer more than a dozen online courses, officials said.
The county will no longer offer traditional summer school because of cuts in state funding, said Sheila Young, associate superintendent of secondary education.
“We are now having to look at ways we can help every child pass,” said Charlene Becker, director of secondary instruction. “(Online school) is meeting a need far bigger than we anticipated.”
Students who don’t have a computer may be left out, education board member Charles Love said.
“It’s a balancing act,” he said. “But more and more students are gaining access and owning computers. Virtual school broadens our ability to attract more students.”
Last year, the district scaled back its summer school program to 1,200 students who needed classes to graduate on time.
The district is also moving toward year-round online classes. A pilot program last summer offered three online courses to a handful of students. Seventeen students enrolled in the fall, and 150 signed up in January, officials said.
Teacher Wendy Hermann said principals are thinking about allowing students to come to the school to use computers and equipment to take the online classes.
“For kids who don’t have computers, administrators can open the building and have a teacher there to act as a mentor,” Hermann said.
Becker said that online classes allow for early graduation as well.
“There are some cases in which maybe a student needs a course to graduate early, and some students find they just need an elective to graduate on time,” Becker said.
Students pay the same fee — $150 for a half credit and $300 for a full credit — for online courses as traditional summer school classes, while those who qualify for the federal free- and reduced-price lunch program receive federal funds to offset the costs.
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On the Net:
Hamilton County Summer School, http://www.hcvirtualschool.org/
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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com