As the Covid-19 era of extra federal revenue for school districts comes to an end, so have many extra programs and services that districts such as LaSalle were able to offer its students.

For the past four summers, LaSalle Parish students were the beneficiaries of a large summer program entitled Animal Academy. It was free and open to any student in the school system that wanted to attend.

But LaSalle Parish School System Elementary Supervisor Brandy Brunson noted that the former program will not be available this summer, as the federal money is no longer afforded to school districts.

During recent years when Animal Academy was offered, thousands of young students attended the summer program, where more than just reading and arithmetic was offered. Various engaging courses, including STEM, allowed the students to expand their knowledge in the extra weeks of education.

This year, instead of having 500 students attend, summer school will be by invitation only and returns to a more traditional summer school format as it focuses on remediation and grade advancement. It will be limited to those students who are in need of its service, most likely less than 150 students.

Brunson said that students in the third grade who are tested as “not proficient” in reading, will be invited to attend, along with fourth and eighth graders where the focus will be on ELA, math and STEM.

“This will also be offered to students who didn’t pass their grade and give them the opportunity to advance to the next grade level,” Brunson said.

The “Set to Succeed” summer learning program will be held June 3-18 (four days a week) from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. at Good Pine Middle School and Olla Elementary School for grades 3, 4 and 8. Again, this is by invitation only and parents of students who qualify will be contacted individually.

At the LaSalle Parish School Board meeting Tuesday night, March 4, members approved the summer school program and set the following pay rates for faculty who will be administering the program: Teachers: $35 per hour Support: $20 per hour Bus Drivers: $50 per route up to $100 per day Cafeteria Workers: $20 per hour Money to pay for the system’s summer school programs are provided through Title V Funds, Child Nutrition Funds and Homeless McKinney Vento. Set to Succeed will employ 21 faculty positions this year, compared to over 90 last year.

Other summer programs offered by the school system this year and their faculty compensation approved by the Board last week include: -Summer Library Reading Program and Accelerate Summer Learning Program, paid from Homeless McKinney Vento: Teachers $35 per hour; Paraprofessionals $20 per hour.

-Summer School Professional Development, paid from Title I: Teachers $35 per hour; Support $20 per hour; Title II teachers $35 per hour; Support $20 per hour; IDEA Teachers $35 per hour; Support $20 per hour.

-JumpStart Teachers working during Summer in June 2025, paid from JumpStart Summers Grant: Teachers $35 per hour; Support $20 per hour.

-ESYP (Extended School Year Program), paid from IDEA: Teachers $35 per hour; Support $20 per hour.