The South Pike School District is offering another path for students to obtain their high school diplomas if they cannot pass their state test.
High school principal Camita Dillon and counselor Tyrone Varnado presented a plan in collaboration with an organization known as Families First to school board trustees last week.
Varnado said Families First wants to partner with the district to help reroute those students who are on the verge of not graduating.
He said there are 120 students set to graduate from South Pike on May 19. However, out of that 120, 18 of those students who have already failed state tests will not graduate unless they pass a retest.
“They’re honing in on how many chances they’re giving students,” Dillon said. “Before they gave three chances, this year they only have one chance.”
“They have all the requirements to graduate, but if they can’t pass their test, they can’t walk,” Varnado said.
He and Dillon both said that some students may be a “few points away or quite a few points away” from passing the state test.
He said New Summit, an online school run by Families First and accredited by the Mississippi Department of Education, would select the students to take online courses in order to obtain their high school diplomas.
Varnado said the course could take two to three weeks.
“It wouldn’t hurt our graduation rate, it would help it,” Varnado said.
He said that McComb and North Pike are both on board with the idea and Families First is reaching out to South Pike and Brookhaven.
Board member Sam Hall said the main thing is parental involvement.
“They have to have the right atmosphere or it won’t do any good,” he said. “We have to make the parents feel comfortable. We can’t make them feel like their unimportant or talk down to the kids.”
Hall said if there is anyone at South Pike who doesn’t make a parent feel welcome or is rude, they shouldn’t be at South Pike.
“I know those are strong words, but we don’t need them here.”
Dillon agreed. “We’re going bring in the parents and sit them down to explain what’s going on just to be sure we’re all on the same page,” she said.
Dillon said the high school also has a strong PTA and they’re working on getting more parents involved.
Board member Clara Coney asked Dillon what steps were taken to help the student before they got to the point to where they couldn’t graduate.
Dillon said the high school has a testing plan in place to prepare students for the state test.
“We want to give them the backup that they need,” she said.
Hall suggested getting with the South Pike Alumni Foundation and having a motivational day for the students.
Dillon said one is already in the works to get students amped for the state test.
Board member Luke Lampton said he think the program is a good idea and the district should come up with a plan for former students who need help getting their GED.
“I have parents that come up to me and tell me they wish we had something to help them for those that may have missed a test to graduate,” he said.
Varnado said Southwest Mississippi Community College has a GED program with three parts: day, night or weekend classes.
“After they get their GED, they encourage them to enroll into the career and technical program,” Varnado said.
In other news, the board:
• Approved 33.56-acre 16th Section agricultural lease to K & C Farms for $672 at $20.02 per acre, a 72.70-acre agricultural lease to Mark Holmes for $1,500 at $20.63 per acre, a 376.80-acre hunting and fishing lease to David Blackwell for $6,500 at $17.25 an acre and a 40.5-acre hunting and fishing lease to Howard Alford for $668.25 at $16.50 an acre. All of the leases are for yearly terms.
• Approved the reappointment of junior high principal Warren Eyster, Osyka Elementary principal Angela Lowery and career & technical center director Billy Passman for the 2018-19 year.
• Hired Joe Levy as principal of Eva Gordon Upper Elementary, replacing James Coney for the 2018-19 year.
• Accepted the resignation of Janet Vernon and John Culpepper. Board member John Hilbert asked for an executive session to discuss questions he had about Eva Gordon Principal Roxie Baker, Dillon and Shalanda Bates, a janitorial new hire. After an executive session, the board approved the rehire of Baker and Dillon and the hire of Bates.
• Hired Audrey Winters to replace English teacher Velveeta Adams.
