Richardson may bring back a summer internship program for students that ended three years ago, and the City Council has asked for an answer within about a month.
Council members told staff to bring in a consultant for a 30-day feasibility study of the Mayor's Summer Internship Program, according to a Friday report in Richardson Today, the city's news service. The item was discussed at the council's Nov. 2 work session.
The program operated from 2018 through 2023. Richardson ISD ended it then, citing budget constraints, and the city shifted to supporting the district's Professional Internship Program, which runs during the school year instead of the summer.
The study is meant to test whether a different business model could make a summer program work again. One option is the approach used in Plano, where the city runs the program but the Plano Improvement Corporation manages it and outside sponsors cover all of the cost, with no money from the municipal budget, Richardson Today reported.
When the study is done, the council will decide whether to go ahead. If it does, members will also choose whether the first summer would be 2027 or 2028.
The city did not say what the consultant will be paid or which firm will do the work.