BRADENTON — Two graduation coaches are expected to be hired by the school board to combat students’ difficulties such as poor grades, drug use or family problems.
The board likely will approve spending federal stimulus dollars to hire the coaches with the goal of improving declining graduation rates.
“This is a way to provide our students with the assistance they need,” schools Superintendent Tim McGonegal said Monday.
The salaries and benefits for both positions total $126,180 — or $63,090 each.
Graduation coaching services will be provided to students at Palmetto and Bayshore high schools — both newly named Title I schools, which have a lower socio-economic status determined by a federal free lunch program.
The Manatee County School District received about $31.5 million in stimulus this fall. About $6.3 million of that funding allowed for the district to expand its Title I funding from 10 schools to 22 schools.
“That enabled the district to hire innovative positions that directly affect students within those schools,” says Lynn Gillman, district executive director of academics.
“We took in those two high schools (Bayshore and Palmetto) to add more resources, including the graduation coaches.”
A report released earlier this year showed Florida’s high school graduation rate is the fifth lowest in the country. The nonprofit Editorial Projects in Education determined that 57.5 percent of Florida students completed high school on time with a regular diploma in 2006, compared to 69.2 percent nationwide.
In Manatee County, the graduation rate peaked at 81.5 percent during the 2004-05 school year, but dropped to 76.9 percent in the 2005-06 school year, said Mike McCann, district dropout prevention supervisor.
It increased to 78.7 percent in 2006-07, then to 79.3 percent in 2007-08.
The 2008-09 statistics are not yet available, but McCann said school officials expect a slight decrease.
So the coaches’ main focus will be to check attendance and behavior and single out students in jeopardy of dropping out.
Willie Clark, Palmetto High School principal, said the coaches also will make contact with families of struggling students to ensure graduation happens.
“We realize today students have a lot of challenges,” Clark said. “Some have issues at home or have to work to financially help their family.”
Bayshore Principal David Underhill said he can’t wait to start working with them. “We really want them to get here,” he said.
Not only will the coaches work with students on graduation, they’ll encourage them to apply for scholarships and college, Underhill said.
Another benefit: Their roles are key when it comes to this year’s change in the formula used to grade high schools. That’s because the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test’s influence in the school grading formula is now cut in half. The previous formula was based solely on how well students do on the FCAT, which measures skill in math, writing, reading and in some grades, science.
Now a range of factors are added to the mix to determine a school’s grade, including students’ participation and performance in advanced courses and graduation rates.
For more information about the coaching positions, call the school district’s human resource office at (941) 708-8540.
Natalie Alund, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095.
Email Story
Printer Friendly 
Quick Job Search
@Nyx.replyAnswerText@