That number is still too high, according to RCS officials.
“The effect of dropping out is on the student, and the effect is lifelong,” Richmond County Schools Superintendent Dr. George Norris said. “Sometimes, people can do things to counteract the effects later in life, but it’s still very detrimental. You lose a lot of potential income, and a lot of kids who drop out of school find themselves in a situation where they have to live in poverty.”
Norris explained that the GED is designed for adults. “It’s designed for the 25 or 26 year old who is in the workplace, not the 16-and-a-half-year-old who reads on a seventh-grade level,” he said.
RCS officials say they have programs in place to prevent these numbers from climbing back to the former rate, but the ultimate decision is in the hands of the student.
Public Information Officer Ashley Simmons discussed the four ways that school realignment seeks to address the problem of drop-outs.
The first thing Simmons mentioned is the creation of the Richmond County Transitional School this year.
“The Richmond County Transitional School targets students who do not have the credits to graduate on time,” Simmons said. “Prior to having the opportunity to attend the transitional school, these students would have been considered at-risk for dropping out.”
Second, she said that students attending Leak Street High School can now graduate from that school, rather than having to return to RSHS as in the past.
“(They can graduate there) after spending time at Leak Street where they received more individualized instruction, and developed personal relationships with teachers, and the school’s administration,” she said. “Now students can graduate from the school, and they are more likely to graduate as a result.”
Norris pointed out that these programs were just started this year.
“I have no real data that I can share because of that,” Norris said. “However, I visit the schools and take walk-throughs, and I get a really good feeling at both the transitional school and Leak Street. I think you’re going to see a real difference from those schools.”
Third, Simmons discussed the Career Technical Education Program at the high school.
“This program also addresses drop-outs, in that it provides students with focused course work and pathways that are tailored to their specific career interests,” she said.
Finally, Simmons discussed the way that the Saturday School Detention Program at RSHS and the Ninth Grade Academy addressed student retention.
“These address the number one reason students drop out of Richmond County Schools - attendance issues,” she said.
“One reason for realignment was to pull all of the ninth graders together,” RCS Career Technical Education Director Martha Webb said. “Now that we have the Ninth Grade Academy, we have a lot fewer dropouts this year than we had last year.”
“The idea behind the Ninth Grade Academy was to provide all of our kids with the same ninth grade experience,” Norris said. “Before, when we had all these different schools, it was hard for our kids to realize (the same experience). Now we can implement a broader, stronger curriculum for all of our kids.”
Norris also pointed out having the sixth, seventh and eighth graders in a traditional middle school environment will help down the road in the same way as the Ninth Grade Academy.
“We also have a specific counselor who works with students who are pregnant,” Webb said. “That way they stay involved and get their work while they’re out on maternity leave.”
Webb also pointed out that early intervention is an effective way of fighting the drop-out rate. She used the Reading Mentor Program at L.J. Bell Elementary, which works with about 90 kids a year, as an example.
“Those kinds of things let the student create a bond and an attachment with someone, and lets them know that someone cares about them and their success,” she said. “Those kinds of strategies really use the community to come in and work with children and let them know that they do have someone that wants to help them.”
Norris said that the early college program at the high school is another valuable tool to keep kids in school. The program allows students to earn college credits from Richmond Community College while still attending RSHS.
“We’re finding that kids are really enjoying that, and they’re doing very well in their classes,” he said. “Our goal is for kids to be able to earn a four-year high school diploma, and a two-year college degree, in a total of five years.”
In short, there are sundry programs in place, but the onus is on the student.
“We’re not where we’d like to be, yet,” Norris said. “But we’re headed in the right direction to get there.”
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