Rochester, N.Y.— Cordell Cumming is a junior at Benjamin Franklin High School and he’s proud of the fact that he’s on-track to graduate high school next spring.
But not every student is lucky enough to be in Cordell’s position.
Tuesday night, the Rochester City School District and Rochester Teachers Association unveiled their plans for a new alternative and innovative high school that would go into the Jefferson and Marshall campuses.
The main goal is to raise the graduation rate. This year, the standard to graduate is higher since the state now requires students to pass four Regents exams.
The new high school will be different from traditional high school in that students would be allowed to attend the school anytime between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. all year round. Also, each student would have a personalized graduation plan.
“I think the flexibility of the schedule, designing their own class schedule and having their own personal graduation counselor would really help these kids,” says Kerrance James, Cordell’s Boys and Girls Club Unit Director.
James says there are several kids in his afterschool program who do not attend school regularly because the students are either taking care of siblings or going to work.
Cordell agrees. He says the alternative high school being open for 12 hours may encourage his peers to go to school.
“I think it could be good as a whole,” says Cordell. “You can make your own schedule, go when you want to. If you have things you have to do like a job, you can do what you want.”
But even who are on-track to graduate, like Cordell, would have to go to the new school. His school, Franklin High, is one that’s being “phased-out” this year. It’s an idea he has not yet warmed up to.
“ You feel uncomfortable [at a new school],” he says. “You don’t know people for a while and if people from other schools come to the school too, you feel uncomfortable.”
Rochester School Board Member Van White, isn’t sold on the plans either. He says there needs to be a lot more discussion before the board plans to vote on February 16.
One of White’s main concerns revolves around the fact that the new high school would essentially be two different schools, one at Marshall and one at Jefferson. The students who are in danger of not graduating would go to Jefferson and the students who are set to graduate would go to Marshall.
“If you put [the students who aren’t going to graduate] in a building with a whole bunch of other students who are having the same problems, will we have another Josh Lofton High School again?” White asks. “We can’t have that.”
Josh Lofton was another alternative high school for struggling students. The school closed in 2004.
“I personally won’t vote in favor [of the school], not because I think it’s a bad idea but because we have to make sure we have to take a close look at the proposal,” says White.
White says two weeks isn’t enough time to thoroughly look over the plans for the new high school and feels that the board needs to take its time to make sure the plans are done right.
“I think there is great anxiety over creating that same model and coming up with exact same results.”
