This year’s summer school session has been severely impacted by the ongoing budget cuts and student frustration is mounting over the continuing effects on their educational plans.

While summer school has historically played second fiddle to the regular-length fall and spring semesters, Skyline has usually been able to offer a wide variety of classes to many students. Unfortunately, this summer will be for students and teachers alike as many classes have been curtailed or cut outright.

With the spring semester coming to an end, many students are now preparing to enroll in summer classes. However, the number of basic and popular classes such as English and math has been noticeably scaled back. Some subjects are not being offered for summer at all. Because of this shortage of classes, finding and registering for an available course, much less one for a particular requirement or major, will likely prove to be very difficult for many students.

Current Skyline students will have priority over incoming high school students as well as those from other colleges. However, the overall number of registering students has greatly gone up due to some colleges cutting back on their course offerings. Most significantly, City College of San Francisco (CCSF) has completely eliminated their entire summer program this year. Many of the students who had planned to take summer classes at CCSF have turned to Skyline in hopes of taking courses here.

The ongoing impact of the educational budget cuts is a constant concern on campus. Extended Opportunities Program and Services (EOPS) coordinator Pablo Gonzalez believes that this summer school crisis is something that students should take seriously.

“The economic situation that we are facing has drastically affected our summer school offerings,” said Gonzalez, who is also a counselor at Skyline.

Gonzalez believes that because summer school is essential for many students to stay on track for their educational goals, the impact of having less classes will also push back many students’ ambitions to obtain a degree or even transfer.

“Many students will be left with out and will have to adjust their fall schedules in order to meet their academic goals,” Gonzalez said. “Hopefully, the situation that we are encountering will awaken the public to the need to expand funds and expand opportunities for all.”

College of San Mateo (CSM) counselor Krystal Romero has witnessed the impact of the summer session cuts firsthand.

“We have less staff to help students, less classes offered, less counselors available and less instructors, but we have more students,” said Romero, who is also the coordinator for the Student Success program at CSM.

Romero understands that because many summer classes have been cut, sometimes it is best to recommend that students go to other schools for the summer.

“Students do feel pressured to select the right courses so that they stay on track to transfer,” Romero said. “If Skyline offers a certain class that a student needs, I will recommend them to take the class there.”

Skyline’s summer session has been impacted in many ways but not as badly as at other college campuses in the local area. CCSF has no summer option this year, so many of their students see Skyline as their nearest and only opportunity to take classes this next term.

Luis Escobar is a CCSF counselor for the Puente and Hermanos programs, organizations that focus on underrepresented student groups. He understands the fact that summer school for many of his students is not just a desire, but a necessity.

“It’s a horrible situation that we are in to have no summer school available for these students,” Escobar said. “Many of my students will try to attend Skyline for the summer in hopes that they can enroll for more than one class to fulfill their academic needs.”

For this year’s summer school, students and staff alike should expect complications to occur around enrollment time. Many students will be put on waiting lists and other students will not have the opportunity to enroll at all.

Skyline student Danielle Palengat has already encountered the impact of the smaller summer session when she could not be guaranteed a seat in a class she wanted.

“I tried to enroll, but a couple of the classes I tried to get into have already put me on the waiting list,” Palengat said. “It’s frustrating because I’m a student here and I deserve priority when enrolling. I hoped that I would be ready to transfer by the end of the summer semester, but now I will probably have to stay until the end of the fall session.”

With summer enrollment open for a week now for students in special learning communities, other students have started to realize that certain classes they need may not be available. Dave Fernandez, a student here at Skyline, thinks that many of the classes he needs to take will be gone because he has a regular enrollment slot.

“My biggest concern is that because enrollment has already been open for so long, I know that many of the classes that I want will already be full and the waiting list is never guaranteed for any student,” Fernandez said.

His feelings towards the altered summer session were more than just mere frustration because his plans to stay on track with school are being pushed back.

“I feel a little anxiety when it comes to the upcoming summer semester,” Fernandez said. “I had a certain date planned for a number of years of when I wanted to transfer, and now it seems that out of all the people I know, I will be the only one behind when it comes to transferring.”

———-

CORRECTION: The earlier version of this article erroneously stated that College of San Mateo (CSM) had cancelled their summer school classes this year. CSM is still offering a summer program to interested students. For more information, go to http://collegeofsanmateo.edu to learn about their available summer classes.