For the very first time, the New Rochelle School Board will address the critical issue of high school graduation. As many of you already know, through the Talk of the Sound, our graduation rate is one of the lowest in Westchester County. The School has never addressed it until I kept bringing it up publicly. The statistics are dramatic, particularly for our children of color. The school will probably avoid the issue and present old ideas that have never worked and more importantly, they will present issues such as how many of our students go to college and where they go. Of course, this does not address the issue, but it is a typical way, as customary, that they will avoid the real issue. Come and watch for your self on Tuesday July 27th at 7PM at 515 North Avenue – 2nd floor. Let’s see how transparent our Board of Education really is and how courageous they can be with the facts.
4 thoughts on “Almost 40% of New Rochelle HS Students Do Not Graduate on Time”
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What are your Recommendations?
You have been on the inside and seem to have insight on this topic. What specifically do you recommend?
Ask questions
Ask questions! Get involved! Share new ideas/solutions. Go to Board Meetings – ask tough questions; and when you get no answers ask questions again. Be persistent. The BOE, like most local institutions generally feel that parents don’t care and don’t matter. Pretend that it matters to you because of your children, their friends and our community. My old law school teacher Muhammad Kenyatta told me that the first rule in community awareness and community activism is to ask the same question 15 different ways. Then, you exposed them with the truth. This is something the BOE is learning. Let’s help them get there.
HS Graduation rates
This was comment was removed due to use of all caps.
What is said that was that the Board of Education should better publicize the graduation rate.
Keep the pressure
Mr. Sanchez you are one of a few people who put up rather than shut up when the rubber meets the road. This problem has been swept under the rug for over a decade and has increased proportionately to present day levels coinciding with New Rochelle’s diversity. It is high time that the BOE take a hard look and make tough choices to address and reverse this situation. As you have pointed out many times the four year graduation rates should be applied when grading a school district not doctored six year figures which the BOE uses to defuse the real issue. You have seen it two-fold; as a BOE trustee and in the community. I would encourage you to publish here some of your recommendations and ideas to reverse the tide before the BOE meeting and here is my rationale; first it would publicly expose grass root recommendations which would be the most logical first step, second it would cut the BOE off at the knees before their predicted rhetoric could be uttered and lastly if there are a few truly open minded trustees left it may spark ideas to build upon.
Please remain vigilant for a better New Rochelle!