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Over two-hundred letters were sent home with the report cards to alert parents of student failings.

Marengo County Schools Instructional Leader Cathy Seale sent out a total of 261 letters to parents whose child or children had received at least one failing grade. There are a total of 636 failing grades across AL Johnson, Marengo, and Sweet Water.

Seale met with counselor’s to finalize compliance monitoring, discussed the failure list, and made retention plans. Counselors will return to their schools and meet with administrators to discuss and finalize logistics. They will then talk with teachers and schedule face-to-face meetings with parents to share concerns and retention concerns. Seale also emphasized the summer school opportunity but warned that it might not be enough for some students.

“Coming to summer school does not guarantee promotion. We know that 20 days of instruction isn’t going to make up for a year of learning loss. But we want to give them that enticement,” said Seale. “We will come up with a system that there could possibly be one or two students who get promoted by attending summer school. But it will have to be based on clear cut and dry data.”

Marengo County Schools Superintendent Luther Hallmark said it is imperative that students stay on course throughout school.

“We have got to get our students back to their grade level, especially those that have suffered,” said Hallmark. “It has to be effective because we’re looking at setting aside money for three consecutive years of summer school. We don’t need to be wasteful, and we want to see at the end of summer school the benefits and where our kids are academically.”

Summer school is being offered at each school from June 7 to July 2 from 8:00-12:00, emphasizing intensive instruction in reading. Parents can log onto the district website and complete the Summer Learning Program survey to let the administration know if they will enroll their child in summer school.

For additional help, parents may call the Board of Education office at 334-295-2233.