JACKSON TO APPLY FOR ALTERNATIVE-SCHOOL GRANT

JACKSON -- Jackson students attending Cape Girardeau's Alternative School could have another option by the end of February.

Jackson schools superintendent Dr. Howard Jones requested and received permission from school board members to apply for a juvenile diversionary grant from the Missouri Division of Children and Youth Services at the school board meeting Tuesday night. The grant would create an alternative school for Jackson students who have dropped out are can't manage in a traditional classroom setting.

The grant could be approved by the division as early as Friday, and funding would have to be used before July 1.

"There is about $49,000 available to kick the program off and do something with students we know are out of school recently or can't continue in the traditional school setting," Jones said. "In traditional school settings, time is a constant and achievement is a variable," Jones said. "In alternative programs we tell the students, "Here is the amount of achievement required and the amount of time is up to you."

Jones said the grant required no additional funding from the district and provided them with an opportunity to help more students remain in school until graduation. Juvenile officer Randall Rhodes offered the district the grant because the Cape Girardeau School District could no longer use it due to funding from the Safe Schools Act alternative schools consortium grant.

One teacher and an aide would have to be hired to teach the program, and facilities would have to be found near the high school campus to house the program. There are about five students currently attending the Cape Girardeau Alternative School. Jones said they would have the option of attending either school, but there were several students not attending the program who could benefit from the Jackson school.

"We want to get this started as quick as we could put it together," he said. "Some of the students at the other program are settled in and would benefit from staying (in Cape Girardeau), but they could change schools if they wanted. Probably what we're talking about is new students."