"The Hall County School System has approved tutorial services for 119 students at three ‘needs improvementœ schools, fulfilling a requirement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

"Patty Robinson, the system's coordinator of programs in federal Title I, or high-poverty, schools, said letters will be sent this week notifying parents of the students at East Hall and South Hall middle schools and Lyman Hall Elementary School. The three schools were deemed ‘needs improvement’ after they didn't make ‘adequate yearly progress’ for two consecutive years, as determined by their performance on the state's basic-skills test.

"A school in its second year of ‘needs improvement’ must begin to offer tutoring. … The county system sent letters to parents Sept. 8 explaining the tutorial services, which it opened to all students who qualified for the free and reduced-price lunch program.

"By the Sept. 30 deadline, the system had received 133 requests for services, Robinson said. … The school system will spend $1,234 per student for the services, she added. … The system now will contract with the providers for the tutorial services. The providers then will contact the parents to set up tutorial arrangements, which could take place at the student's home or school, or the provider's location.

"Robinson said the providers will send her an academic progress report on the students along with their bill, and she's looking forward to seeing the results. ‘Any child will benefit from additional tutoring,’ she said."