APS, UA team up for new program
By Jeff Gorman
DOWNTOWN AKRON — The Akron Public Schools (APS) Board of Education approved a plan Nov. 27 to work with The University of Akron (UA) on the establishment of an Early College High School.
“This is an exciting program,” said Assistant Superintendent Sue Long. “It features intensive academics and career orientation. It would be a bridge to college. A student could earn a high school diploma, followed by a two-year associate degree a few days later.”
Currently, high school students
can earn college credit, but the early college program
is targeted toward students who are the first in their
families to attend college.
The same group of students would stay together for four
years and could graduate with both a high school diploma
and a two-year associate’s degree. The program
allows the students to earn up to 60 hours of college
credit. If the student wants to apply the credits toward
a bachelor’s degree, he or she could work with
UA to do that. The students would be taught at or near
UA by four existing teachers from the APS, as well as
from UA instructors.
Long said the students still
would have to meet all of their high school requirements,
including passing the Ohio Graduation Test.
“The students in the program
would typically be in career-education programs but
not taking college-prep courses,” said Long. “They
would generally be the first students in their families
to even think about going to college.”
The program would begin with
50 to 60 freshmen, possibly next year, said Long. They
would continue through all four years while new classes
of freshmen join the program each year.
Superintendent Sylvester
Small said the program has been
successful in Dayton.
“Once the program is established
with a start-up grant, it is self-sufficient,”
he said.
The program would be free for
students. The school district is applying for a grant
from the KnowledgeWorks Foundation to help fund it.
The district and UA would pay the salaries of the instructors.
“This concept has been
around in Ohio and some other places,” Long said.
“They are using it in the other Big Eight (Ohio)
school districts.”
In other business, the board
expressed its gratitude to voters who approved Issue
No. 6, the district’s 7.9-mill operating levy
that passed Nov. 7. The levy will save the district
from a $37 million deficit in fiscal 2009.
“We’d like to thank
all of the people who made the passage of Issue No.
6 a success,” said the Rev. Curtis Walker, the
president of the board.
“I assure the voters that
we will keep our promises,” said school board
member Linda Omobien. “We will continue to be
good stewards of our resources.”
Walker said there is an
effort under way at the state level
to find a new way to fund the public schools.
“There are many people
who are working assertively to end the reliance on property
taxes for school funding,” he said. “We
have to support a change in the way schools are funded.”
Walker also said the members
of the school board would go on a retreat in December
to make some plans for the new year.
The board also recognized Peter
Strawman with the “Do the Right Thing” Award.
The Ellet High School sophomore saved a mentally disabled
friend from getting into a car with a stranger. The
school board and the audience gave him a standing ovation.
The board also announced that
the ribbon cutting for the new Judith A. Resnik Community
Learning Center would take place Dec. 16 at noon.
Before the meeting, the Joint
Board of Review met to discuss the school reconstruction
project. The Joint Board approved the contracts for
the new Robinson Community Learning Center. The total
cost is $8.8 million.
The contracts went to
Great Lakes Crushing, of Eastlake,
for site work; Duer Construction Co., of Akron, for
foundations; Town Center Construction, of Twinsburg,
for general trades; Continental Educational Environments,
of Columbus, for furniture; Rowland Plumbing, of West
Salem; S.A. Comunale, of Barberton, for mechanical and
heating, ventilation and air conditioning work and sprinklers;
Speelman Electric, of Tallmadge; Southeast Security
Corp., of Sharon Center, for technology; and ClarkTel
Communications, of Akron, for phones.
Construction monitor Robert Fischer
said minority and female participation has increased
on the Robinson project.
“Since the meeting we had
with the contractors on Oct. 10, we’ve seen an
enlightening,” he said. “There has been
$950,000 worth of work that has gone to minority and
female contractors. It’s a totally different atmosphere.”
Also, the Joint Board approved
the construction documents for the Glover Community
Learning Center.
The Joint Board also recognized
school architect James
Beal, who will retire Dec. 31. Beal has been instrumental
in the school reconstruction project. His position will
now be known as “director of facilities planning
and capital improvements.”
The next regular APS Board of
Education meeting will take place Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m.
at the Administration Building, 70 N. Broadway. The
Joint Board of Review will meet at 4 p.m.
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