WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Six EBR school labeled academically unacceptable

Six EBR school labeled academically unacceptable

By Tyana Williams - bio | email

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - East Baton Rouge school officials rejoiced last month when the state took six of its schools off the Academically Unacceptable list.  Now, they've been told six different school are now on the list.  EBR says these new six are already handling the parish's most at-risk students.

Here's one scenario.  The school system is working with a 13-year-old at one alternative school, to pass the fourth grade.  These alternative schools with older students; teens trying to get their GED, have been labeled unacceptable because their test scores and graduation rates aren't high enough.

We spoke with four students at Northdale Alternative Magnet Academy.  They all have the same story.  At some point they gave up on trying to get an education.

"I could walk off campus and come back and nobody would ever know," says 18-year-old Patrick Harris, a senior at the school.

"Stay out of class and skip.  Just because I didn't want to go," says 17-year-old Taylor Williams, also a senior.

Another student named D'onte, says he started hanging around with the wrong crowd.  Drinking and smoking became more important that school.  He spent three months behind bars before he realized the path he was on wasn't getting him anywhere.

Most students at Northdale Academy have been labeled "at risk."  They've been expelled, they're too old, too far behind, or have been called trouble.

"Might have had a baby, been out of school for two or three years and they really want to come back.  And they work one-on-one with principal and counseling.  The goal is to get them back in a regular high school," says Lizabeth Frischhertz, the Chief Officer for Accountability for EBR schools.  She says despite the small gains, their successes are not enough.

Northdale, Valley Park School, Staring Education Center, McAuliffe Pre-GED Center, Mohican Education Center, and EBR Acceleration Academy are all failing according to the state.

Northdale's principal says that's like taking kids who have already been told they are failures and knocking them down again.

"The teachers didn't care if you was there or not.  So it didn't really make a difference whether I showed up or not, cause it was days I wouldn't go and nobody would know," says Harris. "But here, teachers ask why you missed my class, where were you.  They care."

For these students, they say these alternative schools saved them from sidelining their education.

Now Harris says he has hope for his future.  "I plan on attending college to get a degree in Accounting and become a CPA."  He says had he not gone back to school achieving the dream of going to college would not have been possible.

For Taylor Williams, she says had she kept doing things the old way, she would not be in school at all.

Frischhertz says these schools play a vital role in EBR's community.  She says these schools are "saving kids lives."

The state says these schools must offer tutoring after school.  This AUS label means they must also offer another choice school where these kids can go.  School system officials say, the problem is - where do you send kids that are already at an alternative school?  They're still working to answer that question.

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