Nevada lawmaker has plan to get struggling students on track to graduate high school

Students who are not on track to graduate from high school in four years will be given an individualized graduation plan under the provisions in a bill introduced Thursday in the Senate education committee.

School districts, with guidance from the state, would identify students who are behind and have failed college and career readiness exams. The districts would then created specialized plans to help the student graduate within three semesters, about 18 months, of the original graduation date.

“We have a responsibility to our students and our children to open doors and help them to fulfill their potential,” said bill sponsor Sen. Becky Harris, R-Las Vegas.

Harris introduced a similar bill two years ago, but the measure died because of budgetary concerns, she said.

“I think that what I have for you today is a much better bill and I hope we have a much more open-minded finance committee this time around,” she said.

The committee took no action on Senate Bill 132.

Committee member Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, said he was wary of the potential added cost to education students for an additional one to two years.

“That’s putting a heavy burden onto our school districts,” he said.

But testimony from those in education didn’t jibe with Gustavson’s concern. Representatives from the Department of Education, the Clark County School District and the Clark County Education Association, among others, voiced their support for the bill.

“We think this is a long overdue policy,” said John Vellardita, the education association executive director.

Instead of being penalized immediately for not having the student graduate in four years, the student’s graduation — or failure to graduate — wouldn’t be taken into account until the end of the three semesters, Harris said.

Only then would the student be counted toward the graduation rate or as a drop out.

“The reality is we have lots more students who take more than four years to finish. Students need different amounts of time,” said Antonio Rael, a former Mojave High School principal who is now a school associate superintendent in Clark County. “We need to figure out the right pathways for each of them to succeed.”

In his testimony, Rael cited two student cases, including one who graduated the December after he was supposed to. That student counts as a drop out, even though the student earned a diploma.

Nevada Connections Academy, a statewide online charter in danger of being closed because of low graduation rates, also lined up speakers in support of the bill.

Speakers testified many of their students have been pushed out of traditional schools because of bullying and arrive behind schedule, or students choose the online charter to earn a diploma while they juggle work or other responsibilities.

No one spoke in opposition to the bill.

Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.