Education Solutions group: Community support needed to boost graduation rate

Increasing community involvement in public schools will be the key to the success of a group planning to increase the graduation rate in the Cape Girardeau School District.

At Friday's Community Caring Conference at Southeast Missouri State University, community members gathered to hear about a model for change in schools. The Education Solutions Team, a group sponsored by the United Way of Southeast Missouri, has been working to create the model for about a year.

The group found that teachers and schools need more support from volunteers and community initiatives, said Nancy Jernigan, executive director of United Way of Southeast Missouri.

"They're doing the best they can," she said. "We are not as a community."

The solutions team of community, school and religious leaders is aiming to reach and maintain a 90 percent graduation rate by 2019.

John McGowan, United Way's community impact director, outlined the data the group will track throughout the implementation of the goal. It will measure statistics like attendance, discipline referrals and kindergarten readiness. United Way will contribute funding to programs that help improve those measures, he said.

"They need to tie in what they do with these goals," McGowan said.

The solutions team will also look for new ways to tie the community into the school.

Martin Blank, president of the Institute for Educational Leadership, gave the group advice on developing community schools. The Washington, D.C.-based organization helps schools and other institutions work together to improve student success.

During a morning session of the conference, Blank said more than 80 people, including district administrators, discussed ways to implement the idea locally.

"The bottom line, when it comes to the education of our kids, [is] we all have a role to play," he said.

In other parts of the country he said schools have incorporated senior centers or a police substation into the school to build community involvement. Different solutions depend on the community, he said.

"When we think about our public schools, we need to think of the problems we are trying to solve," Blank said.

Jernigan said the solutions team's brainstorming and research will transition into working to implement the ideas.

abusch@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

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