Pleasanton Unified School District (PUSD) has announced that it will no longer offer summer school starting in 2025 due to statewide budget cuts. For years, PUSD’s summer school program has provided students with opportunities to recover class credits and meet graduation for years. Now, the district must adjust, leaving students and teachers to explore alternative solutions.
The Value of Summer School
Not only has this program been beneficial for students, but teachers and administrators have long supported summer school, seeing it as an essential resource for students.
“I enjoyed teaching summer school. I use it as an opportunity to connect with the kids,” said vice principal and former teacher Akhil Raman.
Beyond offering credit recovery, summer school has served as a way for students to stay engaged in learning and for teachers to build relationships outside of the regular school year.
The Reason Behind the Cuts
Due to California’s decision to reduce school funding, districts across the state have had to adjust in different ways.
“The state cut our funding [and] we’ve had to find ways to cut money from our budget so that we can keep teachers that we have and try and maintain the class sizes,” said math teacher Marisa Mejasich.
In response to these financial challenges, the PUSD school board ultimately decided that eliminating summer school would be the best solution.
“The school board often has public hearings that the people of Pleasanton are able to go to and vote on and make decisions and bring up questions and issues,” said math teacher Kyle Riddle.
Impact on Students
While the PUSD prioritized protecting teaching positions and managing class sizes, eliminating summer school raises concerns across the school; teachers have their own opinions on the effects it will have on students.
“The inability to take summer [school] means that if a student doesn’t pass a class, they now need to go to an outside organization and 99% of the time that’s going to cost money. So it affects the low socioeconomic students, that maybe their family can’t afford these things,” said Riddle.
Alternative Credit Recovery Options
But what does this mean for the students who still need to recover credits in order to graduate high school? Although summer school will no longer be an option, PUSD has implemented other programs to help students stay on track for graduation.
“Our district provides Saturday Academy, senior credit recovery, and B period and other options instead of summer school,” said Raman.
