Two Years Later...

Well, it's two years after my last post, and times have definitely changed. The changes in the economy have impacted school budgets and the BOCES (that's "Board of Cooperative Educational Services" for those of you outside of NY) for which I work has nearly eliminated the Alternative High School Program for a "lack of demand". We have shrunk from ten teachers to five (two of us are considered "part-time") and a student body depleted from ninety to twenty-five. What was once a four-year program is now a maximum of two years encompassing grades 11 and 12. Are alternative education programs still viable?

I believe it is possible to maintain viable AltEd programs in some form, even if they are the result of several school districts working together to provide them (as is the case with our BOCES-offered program). They are necessary in most areas. Students who have "different" learning styles, or have behavior issues that cannot be "classified" need a place to learn and be successful. Even more importantly, it is essential that these programs be located away from the student's "home school" location. Students who "fit" the profile of the typical student we see at our school need to be away from the environment where their success has been blocked. Placing such students in a separate room in the same building where the "problem" was noted will not usually solve the "problem". This is especially true when the students have a personality difference with administrators, teachers or other students in the home school. As I return to the blogosphere here, I am going to start commenting on some of the positives and negatives I am seeing in the system in which I work.