Funding for the graduation completion program was discussed Thursday at the Hamilton County Board of Education’s quarterly session, as well as the issue of whether or not to retract the suspension of a Hamilton County student who violated the county’s zero tolerance drug policy.
The graduation completion program, which is paid for through Title 1 funding, is a graduation plan for under-credited older students studying on Chattanooga State’s campus. The program costs $184,000 annually and serves close to 100 students seeking to complete their high school education. Some of these students are in their early twenties.
Chattanooga State provides the facilities and other necessary capital components of the program and, upon completion, students can easily continue to study at the university as they pursue a higher degree.
Though the item was originally included in the board’s consent agenda, board member Rhonda Thurman pulled it with several questions about the value of the program. She said that Title 1 funding may be used more appropriately in other parts of the school system seeking additional funds.
Referencing the fact that some of the students are legal adults, Ms. Thurman said, “if they’re that old, I sure would like to take that money and put it somewhere in our schools.”
Some board members raised the contentious point that students are only eligible for application in the program if they originally dropped out of a Title 1 high school. However, if they live close enough to an appropriate school zone, they may be redirected to another Title 1 high school.
The board also voted 6-3 to approve the appeal of a student who had violated the zero tolerance drug policy by taking a drug another student offered her called Pregabalin, more commonly known as Lyrica.
Lyrica is an anti-convulsant drug typically used to control seizures or treat fibromyalgia or pain caused by nerve damage.
The situation with this student had been addressed by the appropriate school officials at the end of school who decided to enforce the regulated 20-day suspension, scheduled to start on the first day of this school year, her ninth grade year.
Board member Dr. Greg Martin spoke on the issue saying that this situation was drastically different than other drug use issues that had come before.
He said, “This child is a good student, never in trouble.”
He also said, “Sometimes circumstances are just unfortunate and the punishment just doesn’t fit the crime."
Board member Karitsa Mosley added that she agreed with the appeal, but that students should all be more cautious about the substances they put in their body.
Some board members disagreed however, including David Testerman who said that this has been a serious issue in years past. He stated that school is not a place to be exchanging drugs or pills of any kind and the results could have been disastrous.
Superintendent Rick Smith was also pleased to see that his evaluation for 2014-2015 had returned excellent scores that were “above expectations.” Superintendent Smith has scored higher on this evaluation each year he has been in the position.
His average score over all categories ranging from planning skills to staff relations to business policy was 4.02 out of five.