Colquitt County School District Board of Education Chairman Robby Pitts, left, and Doerun Elementary School Principal Kati Stephan, right, recognized Raymond Harrell and Mike Blair from the Doerun Masonic Lodge as the school’s Packer Business Partner. Harrell and Blair accepted the plaque during the Dec. 12 Board of Education meeting.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — A new graduation plan for upcoming high school students who want to be “workforce ready” is under development as of the Colquitt County Board of Education’s Dec. 12 meeting.

The proposed graduation plan will allow students another path to cross the stage and receive their diplomas.

CCSD Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Marni Kirkland’s presentation said, “The program benefits students who plan to go to work in a technical field upon high school graduation. A combination of high school academics, technical college courses, and hands-on technical training allows students to earn a high school diploma and a technical college certificate, diploma or [associate] degree.”

The traditional pathway currently requires students to earn four credits in English, science and math along with three credits of social studies, two credits of foreign language and one physical education or health credit. With the Option B plan, students will only be required to earn two credits in each subject, one physical education credit and omit the foreign language classes while earning a technical college certificate, diploma or [associate] degree.

“They have specific classes they would take in their area of study where they’ll become an expert and pop out into the workforce, and they have the potential to finish after their junior year and are employable in their certificate area. They can go on and be part of our workforce immediately,” she explained.

Kirkland and district guidance counselors are already identifying students and contacting parents about the potential plan. They are focusing on middle school students – mainly seventh and eighth graders – since they would be working on their ninth-grade schedules.

“We’ve been actively pursuing this option for students [and] we’re looking for students who might be interested in it,” she said. “The [reason] why is this, for every person who has a master’s degree, and has a job that requires a master’s degree, there’s two professional jobs out there that only require a university degree [and] they’re seven jobs that require a technical background and our students can fill that gap in our community.”

Students who complete this plan will have most or all of their college courses paid by dual enrollment and the HOPE grant. Those who pursue an associate’s degree during high school would require some self-pay. Those who opt for the certificate or diploma would be allotted 30 hours of an associated degree at a technical college paid by the HOPE grant after high school.

“The plan is to begin providing this as an option for students in partnership with SRTC [Southern Regional Technical College] although really any student at any time could opt to do it if they meet the criteria. We are just looking at being more targeted in promoting it should a student want to take this path,” Angela Hobby, the CCSD communications officer, said by email.

Other actions

Doerun Elementary School Principal Kati Stephan recognized Raymond Harrell and Mike Blair from the Doerun Masonic Lodge as the school’s Packer Business Partner. Stephan continued recognizing Jeanenne Benton as its Teacher Spotlight.

Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Dr. Irma Townsend introduced its 2022-2023 class of REACH — Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen – Scholars including Marley Armstrong, Timothy Downs, Christian Espindola-Hernandez, Dorian Farrell, Aundrea Thomas and Ana Torress-Mendiola. Armstrong and Thomas were unable to attend the meeting.

The board held a public hearing for its proposed facility changes to C.A. Gray Junior High School and Willie J. Williams Middle School prior to the work session adjournment. No one came forward to be heard. A second public hearing will be held next month.

They approved the facilities resolution and an ESPLOST referendum resolution during the regular session with a vote 6-0.

CCHS’s Academic Decathlon team will soon have a field trip to its state competition and the GEAR fourth grade class will visit Atlanta and the WJW seventh graders will go to SeaWorld in May 2023, following the board’s approval.

The next scheduled CCSD BOE meeting will be Monday, Jan. 30. The work session starts at 5:30 p.m. followed by the regular session at 6:30 p.m.