Wednesday, August 11, 2010

UPDATE: Alternative Learning Program Still Houses Students on CHS Campus

Please read the release posted by Mr. Jackson on behalf of Dr. Davis:

Union County Public Schools (UCPS)



Alternative to Long-Term Suspension (ALTS) Program


The ALTS Program was established in 2005 to award partial credit to high school students who have discipline profiles that are either chronic or a single event that would cause them to be removed from a traditional high school program and placed on long-term suspension. The exclusions from the ALTS Program are bomb threats, firearms, failure to attend required drug class, three-on-one assaults, second long-term suspension (LTS) within the same year, behavior which indicates that a student’s continued presence constitutes a clear and present danger to the safety of students and/or staff, and third suspension from Career Academy at South Providence (CASP). The program is being expanded in 2010 -2011 to offer students the opportunity to earn full credit.


Program Description:


Students will be offered placement in the ALTS Program by the Superintendent’s Office (in accordance with principal recommendation) after a recommendation for long-term suspension has been submitted by the home school principal and approved by the Superintendent’s Office. Upon acceptance of the placement, students will be assigned to South Providence School (SPS) including bus routes and transported to Cuthbertson High School (CHS) via South Providence School. The program will be voluntary for students who qualify.


Procedures:


The ALTS Program will function as an ALTS satellite for all county high schools. Students will be maintained in NCWise in the program and LTS from their home school. Students will be enrolled as visiting students at South Providence School. Teachers in the ALTS Program may access the data for attendance and grades.


At the point of LTS, students will be dropped with either a WP or WF. NCWise must maintain the credit history. As students become South Providence students by virtue of admittance to the ALTS Program, like all South Providence students, upon arrival at South Providence School, students will go through the metal detector and be searched then transfer to one bus for transportation to CHS.


Students will arrive at CHS at approximately 8:45 a.m. and enter the building through a designated door in G wing. Students will leave CHS through the same door in G wing at approximately 2:50 p.m. and be transported back to SPS to catch their appropriate bus home.
 Since these students are LTS, they have forfeited their rights to interact and socialize with students in the regular education program. These procedures will facilitate this restriction.

Students are expected to attend regularly. Administration will develop written procedures for attendance, discipline, late arrivals, instructional support, daily schedules, fire drills, and other procedures.


Students will not remain in ALTS Program longer than their suspension period, but may be removed from the ALTS Program for any further disciplinary infractions or lack of attendance. Failure to complete assignments will also result in dismissal from the program. Students are limited to participation in the program one semester per school year.


Repeat students may have access to the program based on how successful they were in the prior assignment and the circumstances surrounding the second infraction. This is at principal recommendation; however, if a student was NOT successful the first time, he/she will not be offered another opportunity.


Lunch will be brought to the students in the G wing. Students will be assigned a specific outdoor area for fire drills, segregated from CHS students. Students will NOT be eligible for athletic  participation in any school-sponsored team due to the long-term suspension and reassignment to South Providence School for the duration of the suspension.


Students may not be present on any UCPS property outside of South Providence School and the “G” Wing of Cuthbertson High School without specific permission from the appropriate school administrator. No ALTS students will be allowed to drive a vehicle on campus. Students must ride the bus. Protocol will be developed for late arrivals.


Instructional Program:


A full-time Assistant Principal and two full-time teachers will be assigned to the ALTS Program.

(Dan Edwards will stand in for the assistant principal in the event of an absence.)
Teachers will be assigned to blend instructional presentation using project-based assignments

and online learning programs such as OdysseyWare or NCVPS to earn credits while removed
from their regular high school program. Teachers and administrator are South Providence Highly Qualified staff.Students will be provided an opportunity to earn credits during their tenure at ALTS Program. They must complete the 135 hours for a new course and demonstrate mastery of a recovery course.


Coursework in which the students are enrolled at time of LTS will count towards the hours
needed to complete the credit. Generally, EOC courses will not be offered unless there are mitigating circumstances and the course is approved by the principal with consultation by the sending school. Students will be assigned EOC courses ONLY at the discretion of the administration.


EOC scores will return to the student’s home high school. Counseling will be a component of the day for all students; this could be individual, group, class meetings, or skill building lessons.
The ALTS Program will receive supplies from South Providence School. No CHS instructional

money will be spent for the program unless is it specifically for a CHS student reassigned to the
ALTS Program. ALTS teachers will request materials from the media center giving the media center personnel 24 hours’ notice. Teachers will go to the media center to collect requested materials after students leave for the day. Students will not go to the media center. No dropout prevention grant monies will be used for the program at this time. As opportunities arise, UCPS may complete a request for funding from a grant.


Program Cost:


No extra teacher cost: two South Providence teachers will be working with this program.
No CHS teachers will work with this program; CHS drop-out prevention counselor will work
with any CHS student in the program as will other dropout prevention counselors with their students in their respective schools. No expense to CHS with regard to instructional supplies; all will come through South Providence funding.


Transportation: Additional transportation costs will be minimal since buses run countywide to South Providence on a daily basis. Assistant Principal will work with ALTS Program until the end of the instructional day; after 3:30 pm, CHS will benefit from the assistant principal position.


Student Data:


Previous ALTS data supports the success of the program. In the 2009-2010 school year, 35 of 41 LTS middle school students successfully completed the program. Forty-three of 71 LTS high school students successfully completed the program.


Statutory Compliance:


UCPS is not establishing a new alternative learning program or alternative school. South Providence School (previously Alternative Center for Education) has been in existence since 1994 and the ALTS Program (which is being expanded herein) has been in existence since 2005. The provisions of North Carolina General Statutes § 115C-105.47A are applicable only when a covered program or school is being established.