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Measure 98 Funding Strengthens Student Support Systems
January 22. 2018 - In November 2016, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved Measure 98 (M98), an initiative to provide $800 per high school student for schools to establish or expand career and technical education programs, college-level educational opportunities, and dropout-prevention strategies.
The 2017-18 school year is the first in which funding for M98 has been provided to school districts. That funding came in at about half of the intended $800 per student due to shortfalls at the state level; however, it has been incredibly meaningful to our high schools in their work to ensure all students are successful.
In addition to further developing college-level coursework and career-technical education programs, HSD has targeted some of its funds to hire graduation coaches (grad coaches) and student support and wellness (SSW) counselors. Together with administrative staff, deans, and academic options teachers, these new staff members are creating systems of support to ensure students come to school, stay on track, and graduate.
The District first hired grad coaches several years ago with a grant from the Nike School Innovation Fund. That grant provided one part-time grad coach at each high school to focus on keeping 9th graders on track. When the grant ended, HSD retained the position and gave the high schools more latitude in using their grad coaches to best support their students’ needs.
This year, thanks to M98 funding, each high school was provided enough money to support three full-time grad coaches and one SSW counselor.
Though the models and approaches look slightly different from school-to-school, grad coaches and SSW counselors build relationships with students who are identified as at-risk in one or more category (e.g. attendance, grades, number of credits earned, behavior, etc.) and connect them with appropriate resources and supports to be successful in school.
“The idea is to provide real-time support for students, rather than waiting until a student is in their senior year and severely credit-deficient or has decided to drop out,” explains Morgan Quimby, student support systems teacher on special assignment (TOSA). “And part of the beauty of these positions is that they can be mobile, which allows them to do home visits and go find students who aren’t showing up to school - things that are difficult for a teacher or administrator to do.”
Morgan’s position is also funded by M98. It is her job to analyze district and school systems to identify the gaps, strengths, weaknesses, and overlaps that exist; and to research various strategies and tools for possible improvements. She also conducts professional development around using available data tools, conducting home visits, and understanding the roles of the grad coaches and SSW counselors differ from those of the school counselors.
With HSD’s strategic objective of ensuring that ALL students graduate with career and college readiness skills, and our commitment to knowing every student by name, strength, and need, we are very grateful to our grad coaches and SSW counselors for the critical services they provide to students and their families.
“They really are changing lives,” notes Morgan. “They are not only helping students, they are also building trust with communities by meeting parents and families where they are. Several of them are from this community and are doing this work because it speaks to their heart. It says a lot about them and their desire to make a positive impact.”
To see a list of grad coaches, SSW counselors, and other staff who collaborate directly with them in their work, please click here.