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COLUMBIA, MO. -- Summer school is just around the corner.

Columbia students will no longer get paid to go to class this year.

That’s because gift cards for good attendance are a thing of the past.

Columbia Public School Administrators are doing something different this year by not hiring a company to manage their summer school program. This summer, Columbia Public School principals, teachers and coordinators are in charge. One of the biggest changes is that they decided to stop giving away Visa gift cards to students with good attendance because of budget cuts. Some said families are less likely to enroll their children without the incentive gift cards.

“We hope not," Chief Academic Officer Dr. Sally Beth Lyon said. "We hope that the programming is engaging enough, and the students are committed enough, that if they are well, they will be there.”

Enrollment is down from last year, but it’s still more than 6,000 students. Both Hickman and Rock Bridge high schools will offer new courses on campus.  Last year, Columbia summer school took place in 13 elementary schools. This year, it will be held in every Columbia elementary school, except the district’s magnet school, Ridgeway.

“It’s more comfortable," Lyon said. "I’m familiar with my school. If I am an entering kindergartener, I get to go to school where I am going to go in the fall. I know my teachers and my principal. It feels like home.”

Columbia school administrators said they will have to use some of their reserve funding for their summer school program, if they see cuts from the state. Gov. Jay Nixon must sign the state budget by the end of June.

One thing that hasn’t changed this year is that Columbia’s summer school program will continue to help feed low-income students who depend on free or reduced lunches during the regular school year.

Columbia’s summer school program runs from June 14 through July 16.