Preparing for Summer School Coverage After End of COVID Aid

Summer school might look different this year. 

Pandemic-relief dollars allowed many school districts and organizations to bolster summer learning opportunities and help students who slid behind due to COVID-19 disruptions. In many states, leaders exhausted those funds. 

For states that still had relief funds, the Trump administration abruptly canceled spending extensions granted by the Biden administration. While the Trump administration will consider requests for extensions for individual projects, 16 states and the District of Columbia have sued the administration over the sudden halt of aid.

With so many funding changes, reporters can explore how states, districts and providers are adjusting their summer programs to the new reality. 

As summer approaches, the Education Writers Association will hold a webinar on Thursday, May 15 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Hear from experts about what states and districts learned about summer school offerings during the pandemic, from the successes to the challenges. Find out how some programs are expanding or contracting; learn about summer school providers’ concerns, and get ideas for stories to pursue.

In Oregon, New Mexico and Vermont, for example, lawmakers have recently committed more state dollars to fund summer opportunities focused on academics, enrichment and even career development. What can be learned from their efforts to expand summer learning? And will those funds ultimately be enough to sustain programs and support students? 

Elsewhere, families may be confronted with rising costs or, worse yet, no opportunities at all. What does a summer without pandemic-relief funds mean for students, especially when many are still behind in their learning?