News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Van Buren School Board voted to use $84,000 grant for tutors to meet third grade retention law requirements.
Spencer Elementary School Principal Amanda Binkley said the school had received Tennessee All Corps funding late last year to help prevent kids from being held back by the third grade retention law.
Binkley said an after school program last year had worked well, but students had challenges with after school transportation. She said this year the school would offer reading assistance during school hours.
“So this would be upon parent agreement,” Binkley said. “And it goes along with the third grade retention law because we do have a couple of students that fell in the below category and in order to be promoted they had to attend summer school and receive tutoring the duration of fourth grade.”
Board Member Barry Austin said he did not understand why the school would pay for tutors to work with kids during school hours when the school already had tutors to work with them.
Outgoing Director of Schools Cheryl Cope said the grant helps the bubble kids who get held back just a few points shy of an advancing grade, and kids who can make it with extra support.
“Maybe we can get them to proficient or advanced and then not have to be retained in third grade or have to come to summer school,” Cope said.
Austin asked if there was any cost to the school budget.
Current Director of Schools Jared Copeland said Tennessee All Corps is an optional grant that had no affect on the budget.
“Students wouldn’t be removed from regular instruction,” Copeland said. “They would still get all that. This is essentially just extra tutoring to help the students.”
Board members agreed that if funds were available, intensive tutoring may also be available to other grades.
