The Wright City R-II District's decision to stay flexible on summer school paid off as the state Legislature passed a bill on Friday - the last day of the Missouri General Assembly Session - that preserves summer school funding. "It's our pleasure to announce that summer school programs for 2010 will be held as planned," stated R-II Assistant Superintendent David Buck in a letter to students and parents. The district also announced it will offer free breakfast and lunch for enrolled students under the federal government's Seamless Summer Lunch program, which also will provide free meals for other local youth who come to the school at designated meal times. As the R-II district and others across the state awaited word on whether the state budget would fund summer school, administrators and the board opted to keep plans for the summer program alive, telling parents and students that if funding was cut at the final hour, the school would have to scale back or cancel the program deep into May. In the meantime, the district encouraged students and parents to send in registration information as though the program would be held. Summer school had been among the programs that were considered for elimination as Missouri struggled to reach a balanced budget required by law. Superintendent Dr. Chris Gaines had said earlier that discussion in the Legislature ranged from one end of the spectrum to the other, from full funding of summer school to elimination. Lawmakers also debated scenarios such as one that capped funding for 12 percent of enrollment or about 170 R-II students and another that would eliminate enrichment classes. The state's fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. This year's summer school, while occurring primarily in June, is considered an item for the next fiscal year budget cycle. Summer school for students entering grades kindergarten through ninth grade in the fall will begin Tuesday, June 1, and conclude Friday, July 2. Classes will go from 7:50 a.m. until 3:10 p.m. Themed "Summer Journey," the academically oriented program is a Newton curriculum offered by contractor Edison Learning that combines classroom learning with hands-on activities for a holistic approach to summer education. The district also will offer credit recovery for high school students. Buck notes that some 550 students have enrolled in the district's summer school so far, and encourages students who have not yet registered to do so immediately. In addition to the lunch program, the district's summer school will provide daily attendance prizes as well as prizes for students with perfect and near perfect attendance. "We're excited about being able to continue the summer school program and thank the state for funding it," said Buck. Earlier this spring, the Warren County R-III School Board approved a motion for a dramatically reduced summer school program that eliminates the kindergarten through eighth grade summer program and keeps summer classes for special education, along with limited high school programs. District leaders said at the time that if it was to proceed with the program and state funding was cut, the district was going to be on the hook to pay out as much as $500,000 from its own funds for classroom and other costs.