Students failing classes at Sequim Middle School and Sequim High School won’t have to worry about paying for summer school courses this year.

Sequim High School Principal Shawn Langston said there will be free summer school courses offered this summer for students in grades 6-12.

Langston said this year, “the district decided to allocate (money) for staffing,” in order to offer students in grades 6-12 a summer school option free of charge.

Sequim School District Executive Director of Finance and Operations Heidi Hietpas said the total budget for the middle and high school summer progams is $30,000 including the instructional materials and pay for five teachers over the several weeks of the program.

Each school will receieve $12,000 for staffing. Hietpas also said the district is purchasing online instructional support for the summer program.

Sequim Middle School Principal Vince Riccobene said to his knowledge this is the first time summer school has been offered to middle schoolers in a long time.

“We started a new policy this year called the ‘F Remedy Policy,’” Riccobene said.

“If a child received an F in any of their semester two courses, they qualify for free summer school.”

Riccobene said this was in response to many high school students that voiced they wished middle school grades mattered more.

Assistant Superintendent Ann Renker said in previous years a middle schooler that failed a class would continue to move on.

Riccobene said this new policy allows students to remedy a failed class in the summer rather than having to remediate the course during the fall of the next school year in place of an elective.

“Students can remedy that F by successfully completing a summer school course,” Riccobene said.

He said there are three teachers that have been selected to teach the middle school summer school courses and the number of courses will depend on how many students choose to remedy a failed course.

Riccobene said summer school courses will run from July 6-31.

High school credit retrieval program

Sequim High School counselors reported earlier this year 29.4 percent of freshmen were not on track to graduate due to failing one or more classes.

Langston said this is the first year summer school has been offered to students free of charge.

In the past, Langston said the district charged students $100 for high school summer school courses and would reimburse a student if they completed the class credit.

He said last year was the first year the high school offered credit retrieval options other than math. This will be the second year the school is opening summer school courses for multiple subject areas.

“Right now there are 20 summer school classes offered,” Langston said for the high school credit retrieval program.

Langston said the high school credits offered so far are in the subject areas of English, math, social studies, world languages and health.

The summer courses offered are a combination of online and packet work that will run from July 6-28.

Langston said there are two teachers designated to teach the high school summer school programs.

He also said the summer credit retrieval program allows out-of-state transfer students to earn credit for courses that do not transfer over to Washington’s learning standards.

During the school year, other options for students needing to make up a failed course include “zero hour” and SOS — a program that assists in the retrieval of students who have been dropped from regular or alternative school programs in the district — such as those for juniors and seniors.