State-Journal.com - Graduation may become easier at alternative school

Board of Education members could vote next month to reduce the graduation requirements for some Franklin County students.

Students enrolled in the Phoenix Academy credit recovery program at the Educational Development Center could earn a diploma with the state-minimum 22 course credits.

Western Hills High School requires 27 credits, and Franklin County High School requires 26 credits.

Faculty at the two county high schools refer students to the Phoenix Academy when they struggle with failing grades, truancy or a lack of motivation.

Students take courses online – classes they didn’t complete, failed or new ones they need to graduate. They must meet the graduation requirements of their home school to earn a diploma.

There are currently 70 students enrolled in the Phoenix Academy for credit recovery.

Superintendent Harrie Buecker said she doesn’t know how many students would seek the 22-credit diploma, but a committee of district administrators and EDC staff would decide who was eligible.

Students who are far behind, older than their peers or considering dropping out of school would be candidates, according to board documents.

“You have to take each, individual child and see what their needs are,” she said.

Buecker said Phoenix Academy students could still choose to earn a diploma from their home school, if they earned the 26 or 27 credits required.

“We definitely are not lowering standards,” she said. “We need to be open to other options and being more flexible with students who need our help.”

The Kentucky Department of Education plans to begin using a new formula to calculate graduation rates, Buecker told school board members Monday.

Instead of dividing the number of students in a freshman class by the number of graduating seniors four years later, the state will track individual students to see if they graduate in four years.

The change could begin next year, said Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the Department of Education.

Under the new method, Franklin County Public Schools wouldn’t meet the 85 percent graduation rate required by the federal No Child Left Behind program.

Buecker said one-third of current freshman are failing at least two classes. If nothing was done to intervene, she estimates FCPS would have a graduation rate of 67 percent in four years.

“We needed to come up with a plan for students who, mathematically, will never get the 26 credits required at the high school level,” Buecker said. “So they will not drop out, and they will not be counted in dropout reporting.”

Buecker said the new calculation will be more accurate – the current method inflates the graduation rate, she said.

“This way we will be able to truly see the number of students we serve,” she said. “It also means we have a whole lot more accountability to make sure those students do not drop out.”

The Board of Education discussed the change Monday. They could vote on the measure at the Jan. 5 meeting.

Board member Michelle New worried that the change would be “moving backward” for the district’s higher-than-required graduation standards.

“We have set the number of credits for a reason, and that is a high bar,” she said. “But it’s attainable, if these students work hard to get there.”

Vice Chairman Larry Perkins said he hopes the district isn’t “setting kids up for failure” in the workplace, where they could be fired for not getting the job done.

Chairman Tim Metzger emphasized that other Kentucky high schools only require 22 credits to graduate.

Buecker said she’d rather see teens graduate with fewer credits than drop out.

“Course rigor has very little parallel relationship to how many credits you take,” she said.

The board meets again Monday for a work session.