Ombudsman: An Alternate Route

Monday, May 26, 2008
By:
Beverly Carroll (Contact)

Walker County School officials were looking for a way to trim the budget when they found a way to save money and save students who were at risk for dropping out of school.
“From what other school systems have told us about this concentrated program, some students are making two years of progress in one year,” board member James Alonzo Smith said. “I thought, ‘Here we have an opportunity for boys and girls who don’t, for whatever reason, fit the traditional model.’ And when I found out it would also save us some money, I thought, ‘Let’s go with it.’”
Board members on Monday unanimously approved a contract with Ombudsman, a division of Education Services of America, headquartered in Libertyville, Ill., to operate a program that will replace the Alternative Education Center on Osburn Road. The private company has selected a site in LaFayette and one in Rossville to provide accredited, individualized computer-based instruction for 90 students.
“We have wanted to offer a program for students, who for one reason or another, don’t fit in the regular school setting,” said Nancy Lance, director of curriculum for Walker County Schools. “They might be students who have to work or some with babies who can’t stay at school all day.”
The Ombudsman program will run three sessions a day, three-hour sessions for high school students and four-hour sessions for middle school students. The students are tested and a curriculum is developed to address their strengths and weaknesses. Student work is self-directed but they have a clear plan of study and the teacher oversees the program, encouraging and assisting as needed, Ms. Lance said.
“They sit at their own computer, and they make their plan for what must be accomplished for the week,” she said. “But the teacher will come sit beside them, and they must score 90 percent mastery (of a subject) before they can move on.”
The Alternative Education Center now serves about 60 students, principal Chris Sikes said. Open for 13 years, the center has served students who were put out of their home schools for disciplinary reasons or some other reason, such as pregnancy.
“This has been a way to help students suspended out of their regular school continue their education so they don’t end up repeating a grade,” Mr. Sikes said. “A lot of these kids already have some serious family issues and come from families that never finished high school. They have two strikes against them to begin with.”
Mr. Sikes said his six teachers already have jobs at other schools, and he will be at an elementary school.
The costs savings from the change will be around $450,000 a year, according to Phyllis Copeland, director of finance for Walker County Schools. The yearly contract amount with Ombudsman is $492,000 for the first year. Board members approved a multiyear contract that requires approval each year.
“We are pleased we will make these savings, but that is not the (only) reason for making this change,” Ms. Copeland said. “We want to make a difference in these students’ lives, and we want to help them be successful.”
The new schools, which will be housed in storefront or office buildings, are not punitive or punishment for suspension, Walker County school officials said. But the new programs will continue to house students with disciplinary problems. Educators said they don’t think it will be a problem to mix the student population.
“No, it’s not a problem,” Ms. Lance said. “You are talking about kids walking into an office building where they will pick up a folder and go to their computer. There are no breaks, no going to lunch, no hanging out in the commons. When they are there, they are working.”
The program is accredited as are the teachers by the Southern Association of Colleges, said Allison O’Neill, vice president of operations for Ombudsman. The curriculum is based on research and developed in partnership with the school district. Founded in 1975 by a former educator, the private company operates in more than 16 states and has partnerships with a dozen Georgia school districts.