School of last chances

Perryville is fighting for the survival of alternative education

By Heather Kronmueller ~ Southeast Missourian

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Perry County School District is searching for grants and other resources to salvage its alternative education program after announcing in October it would be cut next year for financial reasons.

To keep it going the district needs $27,606.

If the district can't find a way to fund the program, two teachers will have to find new jobs and more than a dozen students will face the decision of going back to the regular classrooms where they once failed or dropping out of school completely.

The alternative education program, housed in the old vocational technical building on the district campus, gives students in grades seven through 12 the opportunity to learn basic skills in a more individualized, relaxed atmosphere than a regular classroom setting.

Two years ago, Janel Boland wanted to drop out of high school on her 16th birthday and never look back.

"I was put in here as my last chance," she said about the alternative education center. "I was flunking when I was a freshman and now I'm caught up and I'm going to graduate."

She's also planning on going to college next fall.

The decision to cut the alternative education program for the 2002-2003 school year came as school board members tried to figure out how to keep the already financially strapped district from depleting its reserves in three years.

When the proposed cuts were made public, community members criticized the district, saying they felt the district was trying to threaten the voters into passing a 50-cent tax levy increase on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Judy Huber was one of the community members who said she felt the district was "crying wolf" about making cuts.

She has seven children, one of whom goes to school part-time in the Perry County schools. The others all went to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic schools in Perryville.

The Perry County tax levy passed with an unprecedented 61.6 percent majority.

Not enough

But even then it wasn't supposed to be enough to keep the alternative education program, three secretaries, a receptionist, a library assistant or a power-engine class.

Since the vote, Perryville resident Bonnie Renner said the town has been quiet about the school district.

"It feels like things are going in the right direction now," Renner said.

Assistant superintendent Rick Francis said, since November, the district has learned it will continue to receive partial funding from the Juvenile Services Division for the alternative education center.

The district also has looked into applying for grants and tossed around the idea of expanding the alternative program to include other school districts in close proximity to Perryville. The sending schools would help finance the program and a group of superintendents would oversee it.

Huber now says she thinks the district is on the right track.

"I'm going to try to give them the benefit of the doubt and say maybe they just weren't aware there were grants and things out there," she said. "I'm glad they're trying to keep it. There needs to be an alternative for the kids that need to finish their education."

Francis said superintendent Beverly Schonoff has been discussing the idea of forming a unified alternative center with several districts, but a decision has not yet been reached.

"There's a chance it will not be cut, or it could take on a new appearance," Francis said. "But there's also a chance it will be cut."

Current alternative education students who aren't seniors and will have to come back to school in the fall say, if the alternative program isn't operating, they don't know if they will stay in school or not.

"I was making straight F's when I got in here and now I'm getting D's and C's after only a few months," said a 15-year-old student who entered the program in February. "If they close this, I probably won't show up to school much. I'll probably drop out and get my GED."

Mary Taylor teaches the seventh and eighth grades at the alternative education center. She said if the school closes next fall she will look for a job outside the school system.

Dropout fears

Kathy Scholl has been teaching the high school grades in the alternative education center for three years, but has taught in other areas for 26 additional years.

Because of that, she is tenured and will not be without a job if the center closes. She will be given a different teaching position within the district.

She fears a lot of the alternative program students will choose to drop out rather than attend regular classes.

"It would be very hard for the students to go back there because they failed there," Scholl said about the high school. "Some take a few classes there now, but the fact is they won't have a comfort zone to come back to at the end of the day."

Students who are 16 years old are legally able to make the decision to drop out of school, but those younger than 16 have no choice. They are required to attend school.

Francis said he does not know when a decision will be made regarding the future of the alternative education center. In the meantime, he said the district and the school board will remain optimistic that the finances will work out.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 128