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A new initiative by
Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES and its nine school districts is
taking aim at dropout prevention in area high schools.
The Graduation Rate Initiative aims
to boost the rate of graduating seniors to at least 90 percent by
June 2012. The current cumulative graduation rate for the nine area
BOCES districts is 78 percent.
Through a
collaborative effort with the Community Intervention Partnership,
the initiative will involve educators and students, families,
community agencies and employers.
BOCES Superintendent Stephen Shafer
says a high-school diploma is key to the success of young adults as
they venture into the workforce.
“The foundation of a high school
diploma opens many doors,” Shafer said. “A diploma increases the
likelihood of an individual to pursue post-secondary education, and
provides an advantage in pursuing a career.”
The initiative specifically targets
students from high-risk situations, including teens who come from a
volatile home or have special educational needs – or sometimes both.
Shafer says a comprehensive
approach is necessary to helping high-risk students graduate.
“They may be involved with other
agencies, some of the students may be involved in probation or other
agencies in the county and we have to have support from those
agencies as well and work in collaboration with them to really put
together the best possible plan for these students to reach
graduation,” Shafer said.
Franklin County Social Services
Commissioner Lesley Lyon chairs the Community Intervention
Partnership. She says the program targets the individuals who are
most in danger of not graduating.
“We really need to work together to
find ways to make systemic changes in the lives of these children
and families,” Lyon said.
High School Principal Bruce
VanWeelden is heading up the effort in Saranac Lake, and he says
schools have considerable latitude in how they choose to address
graduation rates.
“Alternative times, for instance
some students maybe they would be able to complete if they had
school from 3 to 5:30 in the evening, and that would eliminate some
of the discipline issues perhaps that student might be having,”
Shafer said. “There’s a wide latitude in how students might reach
graduation instead of dropping out.”
Tupper Lake School Superintendent
Seth McGowan says the graduation rate isn’t measured by the number
of kids in their senior year that graduate.
“You start with the incoming
freshman class,” he said. “The goal is to see how many of those
students make it through high school to graduation.”
McGowan also stresses the
importance of community involvement as it pertains to the Graduation
Rate Initiative.
“It really does
coincide nicely with our division for our district which is that the
district is in partnership with the community and home to help each
student achieve academic and personal excellence,” he said.
Districts
participating with BOCES in the initiative include Saranac Lake,
Tupper Lake, Lake Placid, Brushton-Moira, Chateaugay, Long Lake,
Malone, St. Regis Falls and Salmon River.
More than 65
community agencies and organizations in the area have committed to
the program.
-Chris Morris, 6-9-09 |