Summer school in the San Diego Unified School District was saved from the budget ax Tuesday evening. The school board unanimously voted to preserve the program despite an $83 million budget hole.
Summer school costs the district $4.6 million. That's a hefty chunk of change as district officials look to cut costs.
District officials were proposing to scale back on summer school programs this year. Traditionally they're offered to high school and elementary school students who are struggling.
Trustee John de Beck voted in favor of the program but voiced some harsh criticism. He says the district doesn't have enough hard evidence that their summer school programs are truly effective.
“Why are we in the business of spending money on unproven programs?,” de Beck asked district officials during the board meeting. “We (the board) have said for so many years that we really want to have data.”
But district officials say their preliminary research shows elementary school students showed slight improvements in reading and math after summer school last year.
