Beach school board will cut increase for summer rates

VIRGINIA BEACH

Responding to pleas from parents, the School Board on Tuesday reduced the amount summer school tuition will increase for high school students this year. But the change could leave plans to expand tutoring during the school year short of money.

Under the new rates, summer school will cost from $40 to $200 for 70-hour classes and from $75 to $300 for 140-hour classes. Tuition increases approved in February would have included rates up to $500. Last year, the most expensive summer school class cost $265.

"I think we owe the public an apology," Board Chairman Dan Edwards said during a workshop on summer school tuition rates Tuesday night. "I think we acted in haste."

But unless the board can find about $450,000 elsewhere in the budget, there will only be enough money available to expand full-year remediation to middle school students. Earlier intervention was a major component of plans to pare back summer school that were announced in February.

"Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and make some hard choices," Edwards said. The board will take another look at its budget in two weeks.

The board on Tuesday also approved recommendations to increase the cost of health care for employees in 2009. The deductible on plans would rise to $100 for individuals and $200 for families from zero, and employees with individual plans will go from no premium to $10 a month.

Free health care is "one of the only benefits you get as an employee," said Margaret Tarantino, a food service employee for Beach schools. "If it went above $10, I would probably cancel."

The board also got a first glance Tuesday at a 2009-2010 school calendar that caused gasps in the audience.

In part because of a late Labor Day holiday, school would let out June 24, the latest date Betsy Taylor, chairwoman of the calendar committee, could recall.

By state law, schools can't start until after Labor Day, which falls on Sept. 7 in 2009. But Virginia Beach has several options in order to end school earlier. The school division could ask for a waiver to start earlier, cut days out of the school calendar, eliminate early release days, shorten winter vacation or hold school on some holidays. The board asked the administration to look into those possibilities.

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com