Sunnyside to offer ‘credit recovery’ courses
by Mary Bustamante on Nov. 27, 2007, under Education, Local, SpecialFailing a course in the first semester of senior year can spell disaster for a student hoping to graduate the following May.
But the Sunnyside Unified School District governing board is planning to create a safety net for students in that situation.
At a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the board will vote on spending $66,000 in Indian gaming funds and federal money for low-income schools to create ways to let students retake the courses they failed.
The meeting will be in the boardroom of Sunnyside district headquarters, 2238 E. Ginter Road.
Some “credit recovery” courses will be on weekends, after school or evenings, said district spokeswoman Monique Soria.
More than half of the total funds proposed will be for Web-based learning, she said.
The money breakdown will be:
• $12,000 for weekend classes
• $12,000 for after-school and evening classes
• $36,000 for Web-based learning
• $4,000 for supervision of computer labs
• $2,000 for teachers to set up curricula.
Also at the meeting, the board plans to hire a director of language acquisition and a literacy coordinator.
Soria also said the district will look for business partners to donate $600 each for 75 laptops so students in the credit recovery program can take them home and work on courses online.
Businesses interested in donating money for laptops should contact Soria at 545-2093.
Soria said the district has 561 seniors at Sunnyside High, Desert View High and S.T.A.R. (Students Taking Alternate Routes) Academy, and the goal is for all of them to graduate in May 2008.
