Summer school offered by BOCES

Since many school districts have decided to cut back on summer school offerings because of budget problems, the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services announced it will provide a regional summer school this year.

Jack J. "Jay" Boak Jr., BOCES superintendent, said planning for the regional summer school is in the preliminary stages, but once he has an estimate of the number of students who will attend, BOCES officials will submit an application to the state Education Department and figure out a per-student cost, which will be passed along to individual districts.

"Many students went to the Watertown summer school, but because of budget constraints, they have had to scale back their program," Mr. Boak said about the Watertown City School District's decision to offer summer school only to residents of the district. "We wanted students from other school districts to have another option. We're doing this at the request of our districts. We are a service organization, so if they need assistance in these areas, that's what we're here for."

Mr. Boak said the program will be a half-day summer school with two classes in the morning. Only core classes, such as math, English, social studies and science, will be offered for students who need the credits to graduate in August.

"We know that every year there are a number of kids that may only need one course or need to pass a Regents exam to get their diploma," Mr. Boak said. "Our goal is to get as many students through the August graduation as possible."

He said there will be no electives and no driver's education, which is offered in many summer school programs.

"This is a no-frills summer school," Mr. Boak said.

Belleville Henderson Central School District Superintendent Rick T. Moore said students in his district traditionally have attended summer school in Watertown, but he was unsure what was going to happen when officials there announced they were cutting the program to outside students.

He said when he heard of the regional summer school he was excited, and praised Mr. Boak for his efforts.

"Jay Boak should be knighted," Mr. Moore said. "You're always going to have kids who need remediation who couldn't make it in the regular school year. This is a great opportunity for them to fulfill requirements so they can graduate on time. The regional summer school was really a lifesaver for us."