Ombudsman: An Alternate Route

The Tennessean, Nashville, TN

BY STEVE GLOVER – JUNE 10, 2008

Every single school day, thousands and thousands of Nashville teenagers get a rich educational experience in our Metro public schools.
Our middle schools and high schools offer them a solid curriculum and many extracurricular activities, all delivered by caring staff members. Still, this kind of schooling is not for everybody.
Some of our students just don’t connect to a traditional school, or want to work at their own speed, or fall short of credits, or have to work full-time to help support the family or – I think you get the idea.
Our school district has now taken another step in helping these young people succeed.
First, we opened Middle College, where high school students can work on an associate’s degree while they earn their high school diploma. Then, we began the Nashville Big Picture High School, where students blend academics with business internships to get a real-world education.
Next year, we’ll have a new option for students in grades 7-12 because the Board of Education has approved the Ombudsman program as another pathway to graduation. It’s a national program, operating in 16 states and administered by Educational Services of America, which was founded right here in Nashville.

Cost less than new school

How does it work?
The eight Ombudsman centers will be located in nontraditional settings such as business parks or shopping centers. Students who request or are referred to Ombudsman attend school four hours a day. At least three of those hours are spent on coursework, where the student-teacher ratio is 10-1 and every student works on a computer at his or her own pace. The remaining time is used for individual counseling to help students solve any personal problems that have impeded their education.
Some students will fill a learning gap or catch up on credits and then return to their regular middle or high school to earn their diploma. Others will want to stay with Ombudsman until graduation, which is fine because the program is fully accredited.
This new program is an excellent example of the Metro Board of Education’s careful financial stewardship. The program will cost $2.5 million and serve up to 600 students per year, far less than the cost of opening a comparable traditional school. In fact, it’s about $2,000 less than our normal per student cost.
More importantly, the Ombudsman program is another step in the board’s and the district’s determined effort to help all students graduate from high school. We know what happens when students don’t connect to school, when they fall behind in their studies, or when they’re distracted by family responsibilities. That’s where we begin to see truancy or discipline problems or the complete disinterest that results in dropping out of school.
Now, we have another positive environment to help students graduate. I feel certain Ombudsman will help our district get the results that we all know we are capable of achieving.
Steve Glover represents District 4 on the Metro Nashville Board of Education.