Flanked by Catholic school superintendents, Cardinal Roger Mahony declared this week that local Catholic elementary and secondary schools would welcome Los Angeles Unified School District students this summer.

In late May, LAUSD announced that, due to multibillion-dollar state cuts to education, all summer school classes are being canceled in its elementary and middle schools. Annually, some 225,000 public school students enroll in summer school.

In addition, high schools will only offer credit-recovery courses in core subjects. Almost 74,000 students are eligible to take these courses.

"In speaking with Superintendent Ramon Cortines last week, I said that LAUSD students would be most welcome to attend summer classes being offered at many of our Catholic secondary and elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles," Cardinal Mahony said. "Mr. Cortines was strongly supportive of this invitation, and so I am pleased to announce that our schools stand ready to assist LAUSD students and their parents this summer."

Speaking at a June 8 press conference at Our Lady of Loretto School in Los Angeles, the cardinal pointed out that local Catholic schools offer many of the same summer courses usually offered by public schools. Many parochial schools also provide well-monitored aftercare programs for younger students.

Cardinal Mahony also noted that high school students depend on summer school to make up credits required for graduation and for college admission, while parents look to summer school for the continuing education of their children in a safe environment.

While Catholic schools must charge tuition for summer classes, Cardinal Mahony said the principal at each of the 100 schools "will work individually with parents who may require assistance." He reported that the range of costs at elementary school goes from $100 a week to five-week sessions where the tuition totals $208. High schools generally charge about $200 per summer school class.

"I would like to make special note of the hard work and dedication of our public school colleagues - both teachers and administrators - in these challenging times," he said. "It is my hope that through efforts like this, our community will grow closer together as we seek to overcome - for the sake of the children - the fiscal crisis in our state."

After the press conference, Father Sal Pilato, archdiocesan superintendent of Catholic secondary schools, told The Tidings that most high school summer programs are focused on providing remedial help to incoming ninth-grade students.

"And it's made a difference," he said. "So why wouldn't it be important for all students to take remediation at the high school level - especially for those students who are entering high school and struggling with their studies?"

The archdiocesan superintendent of elementary schools agreed. "Research just came out about how important it is to continue working on academic skills with kids over the summer," Pat Livingston reported. "Plus, our Catholic schools also are providing a service for having something fun and enriching for children to do even after summer school is over with activities like computers, drama and journalism."

Lists of secondary and elementary schools in the Los Angeles Archdiocese offering summer sessions and aftercare programs are available from the Department of Catholic Schools. To access these lists, go to www.archdiocese.la and click on "Summer School" at the top of the page. By entering their zip code, parents and students can locate on a map the schools closest to them and the summer activities and programs being offered.