Metro Atlanta school districts expect more kids to attend summer school after thousands failed a tougher state math exam.

Fifth and eighth graders must pass reading and math or face repeating the grade. Third graders must meet state standards in reading, but not math, to move up.

Those that failed — thousands of students — will get another shot at it this summer.

Forty percent of Georgia eighth graders — about 50,000 students — didn't make the grade in math, according to preliminary results.

Most will opt to grab the lifeboat and attend summer school review courses before retaking the highstakes tests.

Local school administrators notified parents over the past two weeks if their child failed the promotion-critical gateway exams.

Students will be given a chance to retake the test in June or July, whether or not they attend summer school. Failure on the retest can be appealed to school administrators who can decide to go ahead and promote a child, depending on circumstances.

Summer school doesn't fit into everyone's plan.

Wendy Ashabranner's son, Evan Champion, failed the math test, but will be in Michigan for six weeks and will miss Fayette County's summer school classes. He will be back in time for the retest in late June.

Evan earned As and Bs in math this year, but failed the state test by only eight points, his mom said.

"We couldn't change the plans. He must be there so there's nothing we can do," Ashabranner said. "We didn't expect to be in this situation where we would need summer schools. It's creating a hardship for a lot of families."

While state Superintendent Kathy Cox this week invalidated the social studies portion of the exam for sixth and seventh graders, failed by 70 to 80 percent of test takers, other subject test results will stand.

Recognizing that more students will need summer school, Cox said $1.4 million in state funding will be distributed among the school systems to help offset costs.

"We've not received word on how much that will be," said Gwinnett schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach. She said that last year Gwinnett spent about $4.9 million on elementary and middle school summer sessions.

The district — Georgia's largest — is still evaluating how many more summer math teachers it will need.

In Cobb, third, fifth and eighth graders were notified this week if they'd fallen short of state standards on critical portions of the CRCT. Most are expected in summer classes beginning June 4.

In Cobb, the failure rate on the math test nearly doubled, from 14.51 percent by last year's eighth graders to 29.1 percent this year. Preliminary numbers released by the state show 43.9 percent of Marietta City Schools eighth graders did not meet state proficiency standards in math and 33 percent of its fifth graders .

Cobb scrambled this week to hire 20 more math teachers in addition to the 115 already signed on for the three-week summer review session.

"We're actively seeking additional math teachers out there," said Kathy Annis, who oversees the district's CRCT summer school program.

About 4,000 Cobb students attended last year and that number is expected to grow, by how much school officials aren't sure until they hear from parents. Attendance isn't mandatory, but highly recommended, Annis noted.

It's also true in Fulton where 2,187 eighth graders missed the passing mark in math and 1,337 fifth graders.

Fulton schools spokeswoman Susan Hale said one strategy under discussion for coping with the influx is increasing summer school class sizes to address staffing issues. More math teachers will be hired.

"We're reviewing the preliminary data to determine the full impact," she said.

Marietta City schools is considering shortening instructional time for eighth graders prepping to retake the math test from three and a half hours to two-hour segments to accommodate more kids, said Assistant Superintendent Debra Pickett. "That way we won't be looking for math teachers like everybody else is all over the state."

For the first time this year, the eighth grade math test was aligned with the new Georgia Performance Standards. Last year, it was based on the old Quality Core Curriculum, which school officials say was less challenging. School officials say comparing this year's passing rates among eighth graders with last year's class isn't valid since the students took two different tests.

Staff writers Laura Diamond, Michelle Shaw and Kristina Torres contributed to this story.

SUMMER SCHOOL Q/A:

1. How to register for CRCT summer school?

Most children have already registered at their local schools.

2. Will transportation be provided?

Gwinnett: no

Cobb: yes

DeKalb: yes

Fulton: yes, from home school to summer school site and some community pick up

Atlanta City, yes

Clayton, yes.

3. When will CRCT summer school start?

Cobb: June 4

Gwinnett: June 26

DeKalb: June 2

Fulton: June 2

Atlanta City: June 9

Clayton: June 9

4. When will my child be notified if she/he failed the test?

Almost all have already been notified by their local schools.

5. When will my child take the retest?

Dates vary by district. State testing window is June 2 through July 31.

6. If my student can't attend summer school where can he/she get help?

Go to: www.gadoe.org