By Staff
Melissa Cason, Franklin County Times
PHIL CAMBPELL – Future graduates at Phil Campbell High School are getting a little extra help with the graduation exam thanks to two grants from the Alabama Department of Education designed to help improve the schools graduation rates.
Franklin County Assistant Superintendent Gary Williams said that Phil Campbell is getting one tutor to help remediate students who are having difficulty passing the graduation exit exam.
The program, called Dropout Prevention Advisor (DPA) Program, is available in only 25 schools in the state.
DPA is designed to help prevent students in grades nine through 12 from becoming dropouts. While the DPA is not a teacher, they will work with students, their families, and other agencies to make sure that the student succeeds.
"We are very fortunate that one of our schools is a part of this program," Williams said.
The DPA, who is hired by the school board with money provided through this grant, will identify students who are at-risk, and work with them to prevent them from dropping out.
"We got $68,000 to implement this program as a part of this grant," Williams said.
In addition to the pilot DPA program, the Franklin County School System has received another grant to help improve graduation rates.
"We will receive $200,000 through the PASS Initiative," Williams said. "We will use that money to purchase materials to be used to help increase graduation exam scores."
PASS or Preparing Alabama Students for Success is geared toward students in grades six through 12 who are at risk of school failure. Thirty-eight sites were awarded the funds to help increase the number of students who successfully complete graduation requirements.
Grant awards range from $50,000 to $200,000 to service one or more schools in the site district.
Williams said that all Franklin County Schools will benefit from the PASS Initiative through the purchase the needed materials to improve exam scores.
"It's our goal to have 100 percent graduation rate, and we have to do what is necessary to meet this goal," William said.
Both the DPA and the PASS Initiative grants were awarded by the state on a competitive level, and were awarded by the state Legislature for the current school year.