In an effort to address behavior and academic issues, the De Soto School District will offer what it’s calling the Innovative Learning Center in all four district buildings next year.
“Over the years, some of our students have struggled with learning in the regular classroom for many reasons,” said Ron Farrow, assistant superintendent.
He said a team from the district visited several alternative schools around the state to come up with the best model for De Soto.
The Board of Education voted unanimously April 19 to institute the program for the next two years.
The district plans to spend $218,643 on the program in the 2022-2023 school year and $240,000 in the 2023-2024 school year, Farrow said.
It will fund the initiative with a $3.7 million allotment of money from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund III (ESSER III) included in the American Rescue Plan Act stimulus package approved by the U.S. Congress, he said.
“If this is successful – and I believe we’ll know whether it’s successful in a short amount of time – we’ll have this funding through 2024,” Farrow said. “We’ll have to figure out a way to continue it after then.”
Farrow said rooms will be set aside at De Soto Junior High School for both junior high and high school students, while there will be separate spaces for students at Vineland and Athena elementary schools.
He said the emphasis of the program will be to help students who are at risk with academic problems and to lend support for social and emotional issues.
“Sometimes these students are on overload over what’s going on in their lives,” he said. “We need to take them out of a setting in which they’re struggling and get them some help.”
Farrow said an innovative learning plan will be written for each student, similar to an individual education plan (IEP) for a student enrolled in special education programs.
He said the goal is to return each student to the regular classroom environment, but noted that some high school students may continue in the ILC until graduation.
“We’ll just try to get them to the finish line,” he said.
Farrow said the elementary centers will be run differently.
“Most often at the secondary level, we’re dealing with attendance and academic issues and credit recovery,” he said. “At the elementary level, a lot of these kids need to learn to be a student at that level.”
Farrow said removing the most troubled students from the classroom will benefit those who remain.
“Some students feed off of their fellow students,” he said.
Students will be referred to the program through a committee that includes administrators, counselors and the parents.
Three classroom teachers (a coordinator and a math and English language arts teacher) will be hired at the secondary level and two elementary teachers will be added, one at each school. A paraprofessional also will be assigned to the program at each site, and officials said they hope to pay for an additional counselor through grants.
“Do you think you will get qualified candidates (to be teachers in the program)?” asked board member Michael Golightly.
“We’ll have a very selective criteria,” Farrow said. “We’ll also consider the best internal candidates.”
Farrow said if the program were offered this semester, 28 district students would qualify.
Superintendent Josh Isaacson said depending on the success of the program, it could be expanded.
“You have to start somewhere and we’re probably looking at 5 percent of our kids (participating in the program under the initial guidelines). But part of this at the start is budgetary limitations,” he said.
Board member Beverly Wilson said she believes the program is needed.
“If we can get some of these students some help at a young age, that should improve matters. I’ve heard of some kindergartners standing on their desks and screaming. It’s hard to get learning done in that environment.”
The district formerly ran a Management School for secondary students to address attendance, academic and behavior issues, but folded many of those functions into a Jobs for Graduates program two years ago, Isaacson said, and that move has been successful. The Jobs for Graduates program will be part of the Innovative Learning Center curriculum at the secondary level, he said, as will the Missouri Option program, which targets students 17 years old and older who are at risk of dropping out of high school.