Summer school can be a crucial lifeline for students, but the cost can raise concern.
The administration worked diligently last year to ensure that every dollar reflected the resources, time, and effort poured into the program. Pricing was set to not only cover costs, but also be fair and accessible because it takes everyone’s time in the summer.
Summer school offers four standard subjects: English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies classes. There were also some elective classes offered if the designated teacher for that subject was available to offer it in summer school.
Classes were free after quarantine from COVID-19 since Malden, like other communities, was granted money from the state as well as the federal government. The loans could fund the teacher’s pay for summer school, which ultimately was why summer school has been free these past years.
The school did offer to help pay for the classes if they deemed it necessary. “Financing is a problem, typically they just talk with the coordinator, the director of summer school, or Mr. Mastrangelo, to work something out,” said Ann O’Connor, the Jenkins House guidance counselor and coordinator of the summer school program.
“It’s a self-sustaining program, which basically means the money that students pay to take a class that is directly where the money comes from to pay the teachers who are working summer school,” stated O’Connor.
She said that “we don’t want the money to be a barrier to anyone being able to participate in summer school if needed, but we also have to be cognizant of the fact that we can’t run the program for free.” The school was “able to do that for the last four years essentially because of COVID money that we received. But going forward, hopefully, that won’t happen again,” O’Connor concluded.
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