District could use federal dollars to finance extended calendar plan

The Beaufort County School District likely will be able to divert some of its federal money to pay for 20 more days of school for students performing poorly on standardized tests -- the first such program in the state, officials said Tuesday.

Under state law, the district can extend the calendar for those students, but to use federal money it must receive the go-ahead from the S.C. Department of Education, which distributes money from the federal Title 1 program. The program provides money to districts to improve academic achievement among disadvantaged students based on census data.

The district, which received about $4.8 million in 2007-08 from the program, will send its yearly plan for Title 1 money by June, said Roy Stehle, director of special revenue projects. To open the schools for 20 extra days and pay teachers could cost the district more than $1 million a year, although the district is already spending some of that on intersessions, which would be replaced, in part, by the additional days.

Intersessions are seasonal breaks for at-risk students on year-round calendars to receive additional tutoring. Many, however, don't come to intersessions because they aren't legally required to -- the primary reason for mandating extra days for poor-performing students.

Using the money for supplemental learning programs, including additional days to help those students, is generally encouraged under Title 1 and the No Child Left Behind Act, said Nancy Busbee, director of federal and state accountability at the state department. No Child Left Behind, signed into law in 2002, set strict standards for student performance in math and science, demanding that all students score at least proficient in both subjects by 2014.

Busbee said she's seen districts use Title 1 money for individual schools organizing summer programs but never on a districtwide scale in South Carolina, making Beaufort County's proposed program unique.

"Normally when a district is planning to do something that is so different, we talk it through," she said. "I don't see any glitches at all."

How exactly the district would pay for the plan and how it would affect money for other Title 1 programs, such as after-school tutoring or summer school, is undetermined, Stehle said. The district is expected to give the school board a report on costs and other details Tuesday, roughly a month after superintendent Valerie Truesdale first proposed the change.

The school board, which has raised no immediate objections to the proposal, will still need to approve the district's request to make the extra days mandatory for students performing below basic on the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test, given to students in grades three through eight. PACT covers four subjects: English, math, social studies and science. Students can earn four ratings: below basic, basic, proficient or advanced.

About 2,600 students would be candidates for the extended year, based on recent test results. Board members and district officials have said they are looking to develop programs and budgets for the 2008-09 school year.

The district released proposed calendars to school faculties and Improvement Councils that include the 20 additional days. The district provided two options for both the traditional and year-round calendars, and in all four options the extra days are spread through the school year in one-week increments, but the majority come at the end of the school year.