TALLADEGA COUNTY — The Education Leadership Coalition met on the campus of Alabama School for the Deaf to discuss strategies to prevent students at Talladega city, Sylacauga city and Talladega County schools from dropping out.Discussion focused around the BRIDGES program used for students in Nichols Lawson Middle School, Sylacauga High School and B.B. Comer School.
Sylacauga City Schools Superintendent Jane Cobia said getting a head start in identifying at-risk students in preschool or in the first few years of school and providing the extra instruction they need, as well as working with their parents to improve their learning situation at home, are very important.
But Cobia said she thought the most essential program the school system has in place is the BRIDGES program, which provides extra tutoring for middle and high school students after school, during school and on Saturdays. The program also helps students with credit recovery through the ACCESS program. Highly at-risk students are referred to family and school interventionists.
Cobia said socio-economic status appears to be the biggest risk factor for dropping out of school. BRIDGES works with students, both male and female, black, white and Hispanic.
The Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement also is involved heavily with the BRIDGES program in Sylacauga.
SAFE executive director Margaret Morton said the program is not only keeping more students from dropping out but also is helping students to choose healthier lifestyles. Surveys show fewer BRIDGES students smoke, drink and use drugs than students did in the program’s first year.
Morton said the program is looking at around a $200,000 shortfall in funding for the upcoming year, so it will be a challenge to maintain the current program in the Sylacauga area, but may be an even bigger challenge to expand it to more schools.
Talladega County Schools Superintendent Suzanne Lacey and Talladega City Schools Superintendent Joanne Horton said their schools use several of the same strategies incorporated in BRIDGES but would like to see the whole program established in their schools.
Coalition members discussed ways to expand and maintain the BRIDGES program and decided to put together a proposal that would show the benefits of the program when asking for funding help from legislators and businesses and to use in applying for grants.
The plan will be presented at the next Talladega County Improvement Foundation and Education Leadership Coalition joint meeting, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 27.
Also, John Mascia and Jason Hurst discussed a second job fair scheduled to take place on either Nov. 12 or 13 in Sylacauga at the J. Craig Smith Community Center.
“We’ve had several debriefings since the first job fair,” Hurst said. “We hope to implement some things that will help it flow a little smoother and work a little better for the employer and potential employees,” Hurst said.
