BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD TO DISCUSS PRIDE ACADEMY MOVING TO HIGH SCHOOL; ACTING SUPT. SPEAKS ON DECISION
Brenham ISD’s Pride Academy will be a focal point of Monday’s meeting of the Brenham School Board.
No action is slated to be taken, but plenty of discussion is expected regarding the district’s plans to move the accelerated learning program from the Community Education building to Brenham High School. The proposal has been met with opposition by some in the community, who are concerned about the impact it may have on at-risk students.
KWHI spoke with Brenham ISD Acting Superintendent Clay Gillentine to learn more about the district’s reasons for the decision, which is set to take effect in the spring semester on January 9th.
Gillentine said it has been a challenge housing both the academic alternative education students and the disciplinary alternative education students in the same facility. He said the district feels it can better accommodate the academic students at the high school campus and the disciplinary students at the Community Education building.
Gillentine stressed that Pride students will have the option of physically separating from the traditional high school students if they choose to, using methods such as separate entrances and exits at the high school, although they can also elect to engage more with those students. In addition, with this change, Pride students who participate in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses at the high school campus will no longer have to be transported to and from the high school for their coursework.
Through the Pride Academy program, students go at their own pace through Edgenuity online curriculum, are supervised by certified teachers and are given direction by counselors. According to Gillentine, there are about 75 kids at Pride Academy on the academic side as of this week, while the disciplinary side typically has no more than 40 students at a time. Both of those numbers are subject to fluctuation based on how many students are assigned.
When asked if Pride students could receive instruction remotely, Gillentine noted that the state does not allow remote attendance to be counted toward a school district’s average daily attendance, which is used to determine how much state funding a district receives.
Gillentine said the district not only feels services would improve with this move to the high school, it can also absorb personnel costs for the Pride assistant principal, counselor, teachers and paraprofessional positions. He explained that some of the people in those positions are retiring or resigning, and with a smaller student population to tend to at the Community Education building, not as many staff members will be needed there.
According to Gillentine, with this decision, the district projects to save approximately $300,000 in personnel costs from this school year to next.
When asked about the future usage of the Community Education building, which has been undergoing renovations in recent months, Gillentine said the hope is to continue giving it the attention and use it deserves, adding that it has been utilized as the site for staff professional development.
Gillentine envisions this change as a “permanent idea”, adding that from his previous professional experience, the academic and disciplinary alternative education programs of school districts have been housed separately. He believes there has been misunderstanding about the district’s intent with this decision and reiterated that the program will continue on, with the goal of improving services and offering more options.
Counselors are meeting with Pride students and parents to go over credit reviews, schedule adjustments and graduation plans.
Monday’s school board meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Brenham High School. The meeting will be livestreamed on Brenham ISD’s YouTube channel.