Grant aims to better prepare Burbank Unified students for college

Burbank school officials are expected to approve a plan early next month detailing how Burbank Unified will spend more than $250,000 to better prepare high school students for college.

The College Readiness Block Grant was established to support California’s high school students, including subgroups, such as English language learners.

In order to tap into the grant funds, which total roughly $257,000, Burbank Unified was charged with creating a spending plan.

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A public hearing on the plan was held during a Burbank school board meeting on Thursday, and the board is expected to make its final consideration on Feb. 2.

As part of the plan, Burbank school officials expect to use the money to support students as they complete college requirements.

School officials would use a portion of the funds to administer the PSAT, a precursor to the SAT, to all 10th- and 11th-graders.

The students who need to improve their scores on the PSAT before taking the SAT will be able to apply for a “tailored study plan” to hopefully improve their score, according to a district report.

The district would also provide opportunities for English language learners to take core academic courses, including English, math, science and social studies, during the summer. Those classes would have aides who would support the students, according to the report.

A separate “boot camp” course during the summer would also be provided to English language learners who are new to Burbank Unified.

Another way the plan would support English learners involves providing part-time employees to work with students at Monterey High School, the district’s continuation campus, and Community Day School, where students who have fallen behind on school credits can catch up, as those students improve their skills and earn credits to enroll in one of the district’s two comprehensive high schools.

The plan also calls for sending all eighth-graders on a field trip to a California State University campus and all freshmen on a tour of a UC campus.

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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan