While fewer public schools are offering summer school than in years past, many public schools are experimenting with different ways for students to get extra help or redo classes they may have failed.

For the fourth year in a row, fewer schools are offering traditional summer school to their students. About 75 schools offered summer school four years ago. That's down to about 40 schools this year.

But while the number of summer school options are on the decline, state Department of Education officials say that schools are now offering more alternative options, such as evening classes, after-school and online courses and even extra classes during the school day.

Daniel Hamada, assistant superintendent, said that more schools are moving away from the traditional summer school model, especially after summer was shortened in 2006 from 11 weeks to about six weeks under the unified school calendar.

"In the bigger picture, it's not just summer school. Schools are no longer waiting for the summer. If a student is having difficulty from the first quarter already, schools are offering extended learning opportunities," Hamada said.

Traditionally — especially on the high school level — summer school was used as an option for students to make up classes they may have failed. Students also turned to summer school as a way to get ahead on the credits they need.

EXTRA CREDITS

But now, many schools are seeking a wider range of options for students to get the extra credits they need.

This year Kaiser High School will not be offering traditional summer school, except for a summer physical education class. That's because Kaiser will be switching to an eight-class schedule next year instead of the traditional six-class schedule, said principal John Soma.

"Because they'll have these additional courses they can take during the regular school year, it will lessen the need for us to have those summer school options," he said.

Lita Neuman's daughter, Meagan, will be a freshman at Kaiser next year. She said her daughter, in the eighth-grade at Niu Valley Middle School, will be registering for P.E. this summer.

"We're planning on standing in line very early to register on May 10," Neuman said. "She'd rather do an elective during the school year and not have to worry about P.E."

Board of Education member Karen Knudsen said she continues to worry that the shorter summer is having an effect on the number of "credit recovery" options available to students who fail a class.

"It is hard to know what the full impact is," Knudsen said.

But education officials continue to insist that students have a wide range of options.

For students who have to make up failed classes, Mililani High School has been offering alternative options, such as a longer school day, including before- and after-school classes, said principal John Brummel. The number of students taking online courses is also on the rise, Brummel said.

Still, Mililani is one of the few schools also offering traditional summer school with a wide array of courses. More than 1,000 students enroll in Mililani's summer school program each year, Brummel said.

"Because of the new school calendar, a lot of schools feel it has put a crimp on summer school," he said. "But we've had this shortened calendar for seven or eight years now, so we've been adjusted for quite some time."

More than 60 percent of students who take summer school at Mililani tend to take it for "enrichment," meaning they're taking extra credits because they want to, he said. P.E. tends to be popular because students want to free up time for foreign language or orchestra, he said.

"It's very popular, so why would we take it away?" Brummel said.

For schools offering summer school, it's meant finding ways to take advantage of the limited amount of time available during the shortened summer break, said Carol Shikada, of DOE's Instructional Services branch.

"Schools have adjusted. So instead of going four hours a day, they're going six hours a day and maybe offering lunch," Shikada said.

Shikada said the DOE continues to recognize that makeup classes are essential, so some schools are having to be creative about how they offer those classes. There is not one universal method, Shikada said.

ONLINE LEARNING

"Some schools are offering online learning. Schools are also offering extra classes after school during the regular school year. There are all kinds of things that schools are looking at," she said.

The DOE's E-School, or online learning, is also a very popular option for students during the summer, said Allen Cole, E-School registrar. Last year, many E-School courses had long waiting lists.

There are 13 courses ranging from English to math to health being offered this summer. About 26 students will be accepted into each class, Cole said.

Farrington High School, while not listed as an official summer school, will be offering "credit recovery" courses to students who may need to make up a class, said principal Catherine Payne.

Farrington recently changed to an eight-class school year, so initially the idea was that students would be able to make up the classes they failed during the course of a regular year, Payne said.

"What we found — kids being kids — some of them thought, 'Well, I can just fail it and make it up.' That began to hurt our elective program because we had to schedule more of the academics for makeups," Payne said.