Citing employee shortage, Wake pauses track-out learning program for year-round students

The Wake County Public School System has hit the pause button on the 2021 summer learning program for year-round students, citing an employee shortage.

Spokeswoman Lisa Luten told WRAL News the district was short bus drivers, among other workers.

The summer learning program is required as a part of Session Law 2021-7, and districts have funded much of it using federal COVID-19 stimulus funds meant to address accelerating the learning of students who have fallen behind during the pandemic.

The law requires every public school district to offer 30 days or 150 hours of summer learning.

In Wake County and other districts, summer learning programs were broken out into multiple sessions for students of year-round schools. Wake County year-round schools were supposed to offer the program in three two-week sessions, during the year-round students’ track-out periods. Those were scheduled to be completed later this fall.

Luten said she did not know off-hand how many hours or days the year-round schools had so far completed.

Wake County’s summer learning programs were organized so that students from multiple schools would attend the same program at one school, instead of their home school.

The district has 47 year-round schools, most of which are elementary schools and a handful of which are middle schools.

With nearly 20,000 students signed up for the programs, he district offered bonuses for employees who aren’t on 12-month contracts to work but did not get enough takers.

Bonuses haven’t worked to fill all open positions this fall, either, for bus drivers, cafeteria staff, special education instructional assistants or virtual academy teachers.

This week, the district also informed schools that they would send Central Office staff to work in the buildings beginning Oct. 11, upon request, and based on need. It was unclear Tuesday morning whether the extra help could prompt the summer learning programs to resume.

Some parents and educators say these year-round students aren’t receiving the education they were promised.

"I didn’t see it coming," said Wake Schools Parent Dina Wolstromer.

Wolstromer said his 6th-grade daughter looked forward to participating in a track-out learning program in October.

"With last year being mostly virtual, she really fell behind," Wolstromer said. "She really is struggling and she really needed this extra boost."

The program meant to help her daughter get caught on her studies, is now put on pause.

"As an educator in a year round school, our students are being denied access that traditional students got their full six weeks," said one Wake County teacher who wished to remain anonymous. "I don’t quite understand we can do this when legislature mandated the hours be delivered on non-instructional days and this particular group of students is being denied access to that."

"We are disappointed. I’m disappointed, just a series of disappointments," Wolstromer said.

Out of all the topics brought up during tonight’s school board meeting, no mention of the summer school learning program.We are waiting to see when school leaders will consider bringing it back for year-round students.