— BREAKING NEWS — Two Gov Schools will open this summer
The health care and global entrepreneurship Governor’s School programs will not be canceled this summer because they received levels of private funding, the Governor’s School Web site said, the latest development in an ongoing saga over the fate of the summer programs for gifted high schoolers.
Both schools will require some levels of tuition and will operate under different names: the Pennsylvania School for Global Entrepreneurship, at Lehigh University, and the 2009 University of Pittsburgh Health Career Scholars Academy, at the University of Pittsburgh.
Five other Gov School programs were officially canceled. But the fate of the eighth summer program, the School for Information, Science and Technology, is still unclear.
Gov. Ed Rendell announced last month that state funding for the schools will be eliminated in his budget proposal for next year. The proposal, though, apparently left this summer’s Governor’s Schools untouched.
But earlier this month, the state Department of Education confirmed the state has no intention on continuing the schools this summer, further drawing the ire of prospective students, parents, alums and state officials, many of whom rallied last week in Harrisburg.
The private funding of the health care and entrepreneurship schools leaves unclear how much tuition will cost for students.
Students who applied to those programs for this summer are encouraged to contact the Gov School by March 20 to apply, at http://www.pgse.org/.
–HENRY ROME
