School District to bring back alternative program next year

A program to educate students who “don’t fit” the regular high school or who are at risk of not graduating high school will come back to the Grand Coulee Dam School District next year.

The school board voted Monday to bring back the alternative learning environment (ALE) to the district.

The ALE was removed from the district last year as a way to cut costs. The school board had removed the ALE in the current year’s budget, anticipating that students in that program would return to “regular” school, thus keeping money in the district, in addition to saving money from cutting the program, Superintendent Paul Turner told the board.

“It made sense at the time,” he said.

What happened instead was that ALE students left the district to find other ALE programs, or simply dropped out, in effect taking the savings and then some, and serving fewer students.

The ALE will cost an estimated $150,000 a year to support a teacher and paraprofessional, plus additional costs. It will take 19 students enrolled in the program to sustain that cost, and there are an estimated 33 potential students to fill that roster.

Principal Mark Herndon said those 33 are people who are either at risk to not graduate, “super-seniors” or seniors who should have graduated in a previous year, previous ALE students, or dropouts.

Herndon said ALE programs offer students a more flexible schedule and an environment that differs from regular school. ALE students may be older, “fifth year” seniors who have jobs, but recognize the need to finish school.

In addition to the 33, there are 28 students who are a semester or so behind in their studies, and could use the ALE to catch up on credits before returning to “regular” school, Herndon said.

Just where that program will be housed is not yet known.