School districts hoping to use the summer months to catch students up before fall have been left by the state Legislature to do less with less, officials said.

For the past two years, Oregon school districts and community-based organizations such as the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club have received millions in public funding for summer learning programs from the Legislature: a record high of $240 million in 2021 and $150 million in 2022.

This summer lawmakers gave them no additional funding. As a result, both small and large districts have pared back their offerings this summer, according to interviews with the Capital Chronicle. Some community groups have cut field trips and the number of hours of classes each day. Some groups have cut their programs entirely.

The lack of options has affected thousands of students across the state, according to a survey from the nonprofit Oregon Afterschool & Summer for Kids Network. It鈥檚 especially detrimental to students who鈥檝e suffered setbacks and are still catching up from lost class time during the pandemic. It鈥檚 also deprived students of much-needed social and emotional resources.

Administrators and community group leaders say that legislators must think students only needed two summers to catch up from the pandemic.

鈥淭his idea of unfinished learning that is a result of the pandemic is not a one and done thing,鈥� said Suzanne West, who leads Salem-Keizer school district鈥檚 summer programming. 鈥淭he young people, especially our youngest students, they鈥檒l be in our system matriculating for the next 10 to 11 years. I鈥檓 not suggesting that it鈥檚 going to take that long to get them caught up, but it isn鈥檛 something that you can resolve in a summer or two for many of these young people.鈥�

Salem-Keizer is on track to serve several thousand more students this summer than in years prior, but will not be able to offer popular robotics and science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, courses that they had in the past two years.

鈥淚 think our legislators need to have more of a long-term viewpoint on what it鈥檚 going to take for the state in particular, but also locally, just to really address the unfinished learning that resulted from the pandemic,鈥� West said.

During the recent Legislative session, Sens. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, and Sara Gelser-Blouin, D-Corvallis, attempted to get funds for summer programs passed for this year through , which moved to the Senate Ways & Means Committee in late February and never left. By early May, then-director of the Oregon Department of Education, Colt Gill, sent a letter to district leaders telling them summer learning money was unlikely to come. State leaders were concerned about a tight state budget, with little idea that by May 17, they鈥檇 learn the state revenue forecast was nearly $2 billion higher than anticipated. Despite Democratic leaders in the House and Senate backing record funding for schools via the state school fund in June, it was too late by then to direct such funds to summer school. Most smaller districts need to finish their planning by April, and most larger districts start planning as early as October.

Six-week walkout

District administrators and community group leaders who talked with the Capital Chronicle said the six-week walkout by Senate Republicans over bills to protect reproductive rights and access to gender-affirming care played a role in losing summer learning funds.

鈥淚 think it was just the disruption in the session that caused this and other bills to fail,鈥� said Marisa Fink, executive director of the Oregon Alliance of YMCAs.

Brent Barry, superintendent in the Phoenix-Talent School District said he and other school leaders watched the session tick down to a 鈥減oint of no return鈥� when it came to funding summer school programs.

鈥淥bviously, the legislative session was crazy,鈥� he said.

In a text message, Dembrow, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said lawmakers were not able to get more funding. He said he hoped that this summer, districts would use any remaining COVID-relief funds they had from the U.S. Department of Education on summer classes, as well as Student Success Act money from the state for programs that serve traditionally underserved students, as well as providing counselors and emotional support staff.

Sen. Suzanne Weber, R-Tillamook, vice-chair of the Senate Education Committee, was adamant that it was not the Senate Republicans walking out of the Legislative session that tanked summer school funding. But Weber, who joined the walkout, declined to address why the lawmakers could not get summer programs funded.

She said that as a retired teacher, she didn鈥檛 harbor illusions about recovering from pandemic learning losses in two years.

鈥淚 know that it takes longer to catch up after something as catastrophic as COVID was to our kids,鈥� she said.

State Rep. Courtney Neron, D-Wilsonville, who heads the House Committee on Education, said she shares the disappointment that district officials feel about the funding.

鈥淲e know these programs work. We need to provide our schools with stable, strategic investments,鈥� Neron said via text message.

鈥楧ouble whammy鈥�

In Portland Public Schools, Oregon鈥檚 largest school district, the number of 鈥渉ub sites鈥� offering summer programming across the city has shrunk from 25 last year to 17 this year. The district is serving about 400 fewer students this summer than the last one,, according to Darcy Soto, who oversees the summer learning programs. Soto said the district is using its temporary federal COVID-relief dollars to fund summer learning this year. That money must be used by September 2024, and is the last of the federal funding districts will receive to help with pandemic recovery.

鈥淲e鈥檝e created a bridge,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut the road on the other side of the canyon is not yet built, and we are really hoping that the Legislature will come in on that.鈥�

She and other school district leaders said they need the Legislature to commit to consistent funding.

鈥淚t needs to be decades-long support,鈥� said Barry of Phoenix-Talent. 鈥淓specially with us, still dealing with the fire. We have a double whammy,鈥� he said, referring to the 2020 Alameda Fire that displaced hundreds of students and their families in the district in southern Oregon.

Last year, more than 400 kids participated in summer programs in the Phoenix-Talent School District. This summer, 180 students are participating, Barry said.

In the 12 districts served by the Malheur Education Service District in eastern Oregon, summer programming has reverted to more spare, pre-pandemic options, said Superintendent Mark Redmond. Programs are mostly geared at students who qualify for support under the federal Migrant Education Program, which aims to ensure that kids in highly mobile families that move seasonally for work earn a high school diploma.

Some summer school programs that used to be a month long are now a week long.

鈥淚t鈥檚 clearly not as robust as it was the last few years from those that additional funding,鈥� he said.

In Roseburg in southwest Oregon, Superintendent Jared Condon said the lack of summer school funding was not only a loss for students but for their families as well.

鈥淔amilies in our rural community struggle to find child care and activities for their children over the summer, and I know many were disappointed not to have this additional resource,鈥� he said.

Community groups

For community groups, some of which have received six-figure grants from the state to offer programming during the last two summers, the cuts have been deeper. Some weren鈥檛 able to offer anything this summer.

The nonprofit Oregon Afterschool & Summer for Kids Network recently surveyed leaders from community groups that received state funding for summer learning last year.

About 20% of respondents said they鈥檇 be unable to offer any programming this summer due to the loss of state funds. Three-quarters said they anticipated offering fewer programs than last year and more than half said they鈥檇 be unable to maintain current staffing levels. All-in-all, they anticipated serving about half as many of the 120,000 youth as they had the summer prior.

Summer learning programs provided by the YMCA in Milton Freewater, Albany and Tillamook County all scaled back some options for students, even if they were serving larger numbers of students. According to correspondence among local directors and Fink, the head of the Oregon Alliance of YMCAs, some cut back on field trips and resource-intensive projects.

In Tillamook, each week of summer programming has always had a special theme, according to Emily Critelli, operations director for the Tillamook County Family YMCA. The lack of state funding has stretched the limits of their budget and imaginations.

鈥淪taff have really had to get creative,鈥� she said.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on and .

The morning routine was underway in a windowless Brookview Elementary School classroom where  strands of twinkle lights provided a soft glow. Then, the teacher announced it was time to line up. 

Excitement bubbled as second graders at the Fulton County school stowed away science notebooks and  waited in an increasingly boisterous cafeteria for buses to take them on the year鈥檚 first field trip. 

What鈥檚 something you might see, asked teacher Jelisa Miller. 

A wolf, a giraffe, a monkey, a tree, the kids guessed. 

鈥淲hen we come back, I鈥檓 going to ask you this question and your answers will be completely different,鈥� she said. 

Their destination: The Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell, an hourlong drive north from the East  Point school. It鈥檚 one of many metro Atlanta sites that鈥檚 seen a rebound in student visits as field trips  resume after a pandemic pause. 

The return of class outings has bolstered nonprofit venues that went nearly dormant as COVID-19  spread in 2020. In the spring, popular attractions such as the Atlanta History Center, the Georgia  Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta and the nature center, which typically host tens of thousands of students  annually, saw field trip attendance soar, an uptick that鈥檚 growing this school year. 

After two years in which trips were halted or reduced, Fulton County Schools has kicked off a new,  expanded program that aims to give every child in the 90,000-student district a chance to visit an  educational venue. 

Schools in Gwinnett County took field trips last year and 鈥渁re wide open now,鈥� said Eric Thigpen, the  district鈥檚 executive director of academic support. Clayton County Public Schools, the metro Atlanta  system that waited the longest to reopen buildings, permitted certain field trips last year with safety  restrictions and expects the number to grow this year. 

鈥淔or 18 months, we were absolutely quiet,鈥� said the nature center鈥檚 president and CEO, Natasha Rice.  鈥淔or us, this is a huge deal because everybody … wants to see kids in nature.鈥� 

On the sunny September day when Brookview students visited, they hiked up a hillside trail and sat  under a canopy of green leaves to learn how Creek and Cherokee Indians built shelters and made  clothes many years ago.

鈥淲hat kind of food do you think they ate? Did they get to go to Kroger?鈥� asked naturalist Kitty Glickman. The children gave a resounding 鈥渘o.鈥� 

So where did they find food? 

鈥淲almart?鈥� asked a student. 

That launched the next lesson on hunting and berry picking. Then students each took a big whiff of wild  onions. 

Fulton budgeted more than $4 million over three years to expand field trip offerings. The Cultural  Kaleidoscope initiative is one element of the district鈥檚 federally funded $169 million plan to help  students recover from learning setbacks suffered during the pandemic. 

The program, whose tagline is 鈥渆xpeditions for everyone,鈥� is aimed at exposing all students to  memorable, hands-on learning beyond the classroom, said Amanda Smith, a museum teaching specialist  who develops such outings for the district. Each grade will go to a different site, from botanical gardens  and the symphony to art and science museums. In the past, schools found their own funding to pay for  any trips, which took place on a school-by-school basis. 

When in-person learning returned, field trips lagged, as many large metro districts dealt with  transportation challenges and navigated ongoing safety concerns, Rice said. 

But the schedule is back to busy: Rice expects at least 11,000 students to visit by the end of January,  followed by more next spring. 

Last school year, Atlanta鈥檚 Alliance Theatre produced only one show as a student matinee, 鈥淎 Christmas  Carol,鈥� and just 7,000 students saw it or participated in programming. That鈥檚 a mere 15% of the number  that experienced the theater before the pandemic. 

This fall, student shows are fully back, starting with sold-out performances of 鈥淭he Incredible Book  Eating Boy.鈥� The field trip program is in such demand, the theater added performances of the musical,  based on a children鈥檚 book about a boy who struggles with reading. 

Christopher Moses, who oversees the Alliance鈥檚 educational efforts, has loved hearing the 鈥渦nbridled  laughter鈥� of young audiences after 鈥渟o much doom and gloom.鈥� 

In 2019, researchers from the University of Arkansas studied the benefits of field trips to the Alliance  and other Atlanta cultural venues. They found evidence that students who visited had higher test scores, more interest in school and a greater understanding of those with different opinions. 

鈥淚f we can increase hope and increase tolerance and you鈥檙e also doing better in school? This is the real  impact of this,鈥� Moses said. 

When students were learning virtually, the Atlanta History Center created short films for online classes  to watch with a facilitator available to answer questions. Home-schooling groups and private schools were among the first to return to the Buckhead site, which offers farm tours with blacksmithing and  woodworking demonstrations and visits that focus on the Civil War and the civil rights movement. 

Before the pandemic, up to 24,000 students visited in a year. So far this year, they鈥檝e scheduled trips for  15,000 to 18,000 students, and counting. 

鈥淣ow we are at full capacity. We have booked out school tours from September of this year through  April 2023,鈥� said Shatavia Elder, vice president of education. 

Zoo Atlanta, which also offered virtual programs, saw a resurgence of field trips this past spring, but the  number of people registered so far this year is half of what it was for all of 2019, according to  spokeswoman Rachel Davis. 

Educational trips to the Georgia Aquarium plummeted from about 160,000 students annually before the  pandemic to about 12,000 in 2021. Attendance rebounded this year, with roughly 80,000 so far. 

Bailey Dawson Jr., senior manager of education, said it鈥檚 been especially meaningful to see second and  third graders, who spent much of their early school years on computers, experience their first  excursions. Their jaws drop when they see the aquarium鈥檚 huge tanks. 

鈥滻t鈥檚 a whole world unlocked,鈥� he said. 

Miller, the Brookview teacher, knows what that鈥檚 like. Growing up in Florida, she still recalls a field trip  to the Miami Seaquarium. 

鈥淭hat was my first time seeing dolphins. The field trips that I went on were my first experiences,鈥� she  said. 

At the nature center, her students touched deer hide and marveled at a rescued, three-legged eastern  box turtle. That was a highlight for Carter Carey, 7, who said he鈥檇 tell his family that he 鈥渓earned about  nature and turtles.鈥� 

Deserie Bailey took the day off work to chaperone at the request of her daughter, Tsidii Tsidii. It was  Bailey鈥檚 first chance to accompany the 7-year-old on a field trip. The past few years have been hard as a  single mom, especially when students were learning online, she said. 

Tsidii Tsidii had never touched a deer hoof before. She snapped photos to remember it. She鈥檇 been  looking forward to the field trip for a while: 鈥淚 want to be a scientist when I grow up,鈥� she said. 

鈥淭rust me, she鈥檚 going to have a story,鈥� Bailey said of the nature center visit. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l read about it all  day, but they need that hands-on, that experience has to be there.鈥� 

This story comes from our partners at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more on the news and events  in metro-Atlanta and Georgia, visit .