Ombudsman: An Alternate Route

By JAIME SARRIO
Staff Writer

Metro schools plans to hire a private, for-profit company to educate about 500 of the district’s struggling students.

School board members Tuesday unanimously voted to move ahead with plans for Ombudsman, a program offered by Nashville-based Educational Services of America.

The $2.5 million program would launch at seven or more locations during the 2008-09 school year and serve 480 students at a time.
Board members will have to vote one more time to finalize details of the contract, but members were enthusiastic about being the first district in Tennessee to try the alternative program, mainly because it promises quick improvements.

“I don’t care if it is private or public, we have a commitment to offer our children the best service possible,” said District 4 board member Steve Glover.

“If that means we have to blend private and public, then I believe we have to do it.”
Ombudsman tries to catch students up by offering smaller classes and computer-based lessons.

The company employs its own certified teachers and will offer flexible schedules for students who have been chronically absent from school, have behavioral problems or have fallen behind.

“The bottom line is you don’t have to be in trouble to be sent there,” said Ralph Thompson, assistant superintendent for Metro Nashville Public Schools.

The state Department of Education, which has partial control over Metro schools, has criticized the district’s methods for dealing with alternative-school and special-education students.

Metro school officials believe this program will correct some of those concerns; they said state officials are in favor of the program.

The normal stay for students is 45 days, but it can be extended to a semester or for the entire school year. After leaving the program, students go back to their zoned school.

According to the company, Ombudsman has an 85 percent success rate of returning students who have caught up or of keeping them in the program until they graduate.

The program has contracts in several states, including with 20 school districts in Georgia.

The $2.5 million contract is the largest single deal for Educational Services of America, said CEO Mark Claypool.

That breaks down to about $5,300 per slot compared to the $7,500 to $9,000 per year spent on an alternative-school student. The money will come out of federal funds, according to school officials.

Claypool said the company has already started recruiting teachers and scouting sites, which are usually in strip malls and commercial areas.

Contact Jaime Sarrio at 726-5064 or jsarrio@tennessean.com.