GENTRY -- The possibility of creating a conversion charter school in conjunction with Gentry High School within the district was also on the agenda of the April 13 town-hall meeting of the Gentry School Board in the city council building. Input was sought from school district patrons as school officials explore the possibilities for such an option.
Judy Winslett, assistant superintendent of the Gentry School District, said the district had the opportunity to create a conversion charter school at the high school in order to better meet the needs of graduates going out into the world and seeking employment.
She said the district could not create an open-enrollment charter school but could create a conversion charter school within the district. She said the proposed charter school would be a part of Gentry High School and not a separate school with its own district LEA (local education authority) number.
Winslett told those in attendance at the meeting -- including some parents but largely made up of school staff -- that only 35 of the 98 graduates from 2013 were college bound in an Arkansas college or university, explaining that the numbers typical of graduating classes in Gentry mean more than 60 percent of Gentry High School graduates do not go on to college. And the percentage of those graduating from college is considerably smaller than the 30 percent who begin a college education.
"What are we doing for our graduates who do not go on to college?" Winslett asked.
Winslett said the conversion plan would make it possible for the school district to better prepare its students to go out into the world and obtain quality jobs through partnerships with local business and industry (including student internships) and expanded courses and technical training outside of the traditional high school courses, leading to students graduating with industry certificates.
Winslett sought input on possible avenues for such a charter school to take. She said that, after talking with local business and industry, some possible avenues could include the health care field and certified nurse aide training, industrial maintenance, sales, logistics, information technology and diesel mechanics. If a charter school is formed, courses offered in these fields would also be available to college-bound students, Winslett added, explaining that some colleges and universities look favorably upon students who have completed courses or gained experience in their fields of study. She noted, as an example, that a number of colleges are requiring nursing students to have certified nurse aide experience prior to admission to their programs.
She said high school graduates would still need to take state-required courses but elective courses could be restructured to focus on special knowledge and skills to enable students to enter the work force upon graduation.
She also said plans could be coordinated with Decatur and Gravette School Districts so that students would have more options and could attend classes in any of the three districts to obtain the specific training they need. She said discussions with the other school districts are already under way and they have formed the Western Benton County Careers Consortium and have agreed to share students between districts when in the best interest of the students.
Winslett said the district will need to submit a letter of intent in July, explain the charter school design and focus to a state committee in October and be approved by the Arkansas Board of Education in November in order to start the school the following August, leaving little time if the district wishes to open a charter school at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year.
Winslett said some startup funding (in addition to traditional student funding) may be available for the conversion charter school to help buy needed equipment for the training. She also hoped local businesses and industries might help with costs since they stand to benefit by having job-trained graduates available for hire.
Space for the charter school was brought up during the question and answer period and the possibility of using part of the present intermediate campus was mentioned should the intermediate school be moved from its current location.
Randy Barrett, superintendent of Gentry schools, said that in Arkansas only 22 percent of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Further explaining, Barrett said, "Ultimately, the goal of college is to graduate and get a job and the goal for all our kids, whether they go to college or not, is to be able to be gainfully employed, pay their bills and earn a decent living."
He said the school district needed to strike a balance between focusing on academic preparedness for college and vocational training for graduates entering the job market.
"It's about giving our students more opportunities because not everyone is going to college," Barrett said. "We're not (now) doing as much as we can do," he added.
In the third focus of the town-hall meeting April 13 (see related article on facility options in this issue), Barrett asked, "Do we need to change the wording in our statement (of core beliefs, vision and mission), or just change what we are doing?"
The district is also seeking input on updates to the previously adopted beliefs, vision and mission statements to reflect the district's goals and guide its direction into the future.
A school survey will be available on the school district website soon to give district patrons opportunity to respond and share thoughts on facility building plans, a conversion charter school and the district's statement of core beliefs, vision and mission.
General News on 04/22/2015