The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District will be offering enrichment learning experiences for students in the district throughout the summer.
SOCSD Grants and Innovative Strategies Specialist Brandi Burton presented at the district’s monthly meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the plans for these enhancements activities. While each session will focus on at least one core curriculum subject, students will have the opportunity to participate in topics related to lifestyle and skill-building.
“We need to keep these students with their peers in a classroom type situation as we can for exciting and enriching activities that will spark their interest,” Burton said. “Most of the time when you have students participating in enriching and engaging activities like that they will show gains in reading and mathematics.”
The session topics include accelerated learning for literacy and math and enrichment in STEM, makerspace, gardening, nutrition, writing, arts, internships for career exploration, AP camp and ACT prep. The scheduled dates are June 21-July 2 and July 12-23.
Burton said the district has been struggling to acquire teachers willing to work throughout the summer and teach these courses. She said she is trying to propose a pay raise and create smaller classroom settings for the teachers as recruitment methods.
The school district will also offer free tutoring sessions to up to 150 students in grades K-5 during the summer through its designation as a grade-level reading community. Tutors will be qualified Mississippi State University students, and tutoring will cover literacy components such as reading gains, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
“This is a reading campaign, so this will mainly cover literacy components such as reading gains and phonemic awareness,” Burton said. “There will be assessments before, during and after the program so that gains and successes can be reported to parents as well as the teachers of the students.”
A new summer learning component SOCSD will be offering this year is “Grab and Go Reading Bags.” The district will create bags filled with calendars, books and other reading materials and grant them to students. Burton said students who need the greatest help with literacy skills will be first priority, but the district is going to try to give out as many bags as possible.
“We feel that a summer reading program is just really important,” Burton said “It helps kids with their reading, and they’re not gonna fall back if they’re constantly doing something.”
All of the summer learning initiatives will be at no cost to parents or guardians. Burton said the programs’ financing will come from grants and federal funding.
Burton said there are three different groups of students these enrichment programs are targeting — well-performing students, average-performing students and students who need some assistance. While different initiatives could help different students, all of these groups can benefit from the learning experiences.
“We have three different groups, and you can’t ignore one because of the other,” Burton said. “It’s working together to find the balance to provide as much service as we can to all of those kids.”
Teacher salary increase
In other business, the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees approved three increases in teacher salaries.
The board approved a $500 increase in the local teaching supplement offered to all teachers in the district. With the increase, the district’s teaching supplement over the state-mandated salary minimums will range from $2,250 to $3,250 based on certification and experience. The cost of the total local supplement with the new increase will be approximately $250,000 annually.
“Our school district is committed to investing in our teachers,” SOCSD Superintendent Eddie Peasant said. “This increase in our local teaching supplement is a next step as identified in our strategic plan to further compensate teachers for their excellent work.”
The board also approved an hourly wage of $35 for instructional staff during summer learning sessions for 2021. This is a $10 increase from previous years.
The school district is amending its minimum hourly salary rate to $10 for all district employees beginning July 1.
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