Connections, an unconventional Durham Public Schools program for high school dropouts, faces an uncertain future due to a misprint in the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's handbook.
The state DPI mistakenly said it was appropriate for schools to offer General Education Development preparation courses at the secondary school level, when in fact the department does not encourage high schools to offer such services. The department has since corrected the error, leaving programs like Connections to seek partnerships with local community colleges.
DPS is now considering partnering with Durham Technical Community College to operate Connections, which is currently housed inside Communities in Schools Academy.
"We don't know exactly what this program's going to look like at the end of this year," said DPS spokesperson Michael Yarbrough. "Maybe we'll continue to hold [Connections] on our campus under the auspices of Durham Tech. We're going to do whatever we need to do to fall within [the state DPI's] guidelines while continuing a successful operation of the program."
Despite The News & Observer of Raleigh's report that over half of Connections students earned their GEDs last year, DPS officials insist that Connections is not necessarily a GED preparation program. Connections provides dropouts with academic tutoring and vocational training, said Yarbrough. When they finish the program they receive a certificate of completion that qualifies them to take the GED. "This is not, per se, a GED course," he said.
"Connections was the place where [dropouts] could make connections for further education or more opportunities," said Myra Smith, principal of CIS Academy, an alternative public school for academically "at risk" students from sixth to ninth grade. "The goal is to get them to where they can move on and do the GED at Durham Tech and get an associate degree there. Some may even go the college transfer route but we just get them out of the house."
However, some say the program is too quick to encourage young people to drop out of school and earn a GED instead of a high school diploma. According to The News & Observer, referrals from high schools account for almost half of Connections' enrollment.
But DPS officials say that Connections provides opportunities for students who otherwise would not be in school. "Our number one goal is for every student who comes through our doors to get a high school diploma," Yarbrough said.
"We don't ask students to transfer to this program. This is for students who think they have no other choice but to drop out of school."
Smith agreed. "Being a school where we are and given the abject poverty here, [Connections is] good for the community--it's good for Durham," she said. "When the state raised promotion standards, some kids got left [behind]. We're trying to catch them all but there were some who, under the old policy of social promotion, never got to learn how to read. You go to the next grade without anything in place... so you get 17-year-olds who can't read."
According to the North Carolina Department of Community Colleges, GED enrollment of 16 to 19 year olds has hovered around 9,000, although the number has dropped slightly in recent school years.
"In the past, we lost a lot of students [after dropping out]. That is no longer quite the case," Yarbrough said. "We have a community in Durham that cares deeply about its students.... There was a big gap, and that's why we've implemented this program. This was a need identified by the community and one that we met."
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