Money could be on the way to local school systems to help cover the unexpected costs of summer school, The Chronicle has learned.

The Georgia Department of Education will ask the State Board of Education in June to approve $1.4 million to ease the burden on local school systems, spokesman Dana Tofig responded in an e-mail to the newspaper this afternoon.

Although no one will know for sure until summer school starts next week, it's expected that enrollment will be up dramatically. This is because preliminary figures show 40 percent of the state's eighth-graders failed the math portion of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests.

Summer school remediation isn't mandatory, but it is recommended that students who failed the required portions of the CRCT attend so that they are prepared to retake the test at the end of the summer session.

Reach Greg Gelpi at 706-828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com