Coahoma County School District superintendent Dr. Ilean Richards wants to do her part to keep Coahoma Early College High School open.
Richards spoke at Tuesday’s board meeting about an Email CECHS superintendent Dr. Valmadge Towner received from the Mississippi Department of Education saying Aggie could close if school districts don’t release their students and provide permission for them to attend CECHS.
Richards said she would like to grant permission for students in the CCSD to attend CECHS and see how it works. She said prospective CECHS students would come from the CCSD, the Clarksdale Municipal School District, the Quitman County School District and the Bolivar County School District. How each of those five districts respond could determine CECHS’s future.
Richards said she had a Zoom meeting with Towner for about 10 minutes Tuesday. She said the memorandum of understanding (MOU) the two district are working out was vague, but Towner did answer some of her questions in writing.
“Coahoma Early College was created about four years ago and, each year, they were supposed to do certain things and because they haven’t met the requirement, the state department is sort of passing to them an ultimatum that certain things are done by July 1 and, if not, they’re going to shut down (CECHS),” Richards said.
At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, Richards said the CCSD gained approximately 75 students from CECHS.
“Last year, if you recall, we kind of got the short end of the stick,” Richards said. “We had heard at that time that the state department was really trying to get them to get on task with developing that Early College. As a result, any of the students that had been going there had to end up coming back to us for school.”
Richards explained the process of getting into CECHS.
“In order to get in Early College, you must apply and you must go through an interview,” Richards said. “But what had been happening, they had continued to accept those students who would normally go from this school district at the end of the eighth grade year – Jonestown and Friars Point – to the College. When the state department began to question them about their operation, we received this past year about 75 of those kids. It was at the last minute.”
While there are still not many details about how things would work going forward, Richards explained why she would like to keep CECHS open.
“I believe in the Early College,” Richards said. “I think there’s a place for Early College and I’m willing to ask this board to let’s try and for those students who are academic minded and want that type of education, give them an opportunity to go to Early College.”
Richards said, if things do not work out, the CCSD would be able to get out of the agreement.
“I’m asking this board to at least give it a year,” Richards said. “Hopefully, within this year, we’ll be able to discern exactly what they’re asking of us, what are they going to provide for our students? Because it has to be about the student.”
Richards said CCSD students would still be able to have dual enrollment where they come to Coahoma County High School and take Early College courses.
Richards said as many as 200 students would attend CECHS and 25 to 50 could come from CCHS. The goal would be, at the end of four years, to meet high school requirements as well as two years of community college requirements and gain an associates degree.
The CCSD would provide CECHS funds for each student from the district that attends.
Richards said money would pay for things such as transportation and child nutrition.
“We are thinking that it will not go beyond the money the state gives us per child, but I can’t say that I actually know,” Richards said.
The matter is expected to be revisited either at a special board meeting or in June. Richards said she would ask a representative from CECHS to address the board.
