Fannie Mullins School, which serves as the alternative school, hopes to create second semester remediation program

A Fannie Mullins School representative presented the Brookhaven School Board with a program expansion proposal in order to make the campus more viable.

Fannie Mullins School Director of Alternative Educational Services LaRenda Harrison proposed that the campus create second semester remediation courses for students who are still not prepared to enter the courses on the high school campus.

“What we believe on our campus is if we are going to, as a district, go from a D to a C rating, it takes all hands on deck to accomplish that,” Harrison said. “Right now, what we are contributing is working with those students who have found themselves having made a mistake and this is their second chance to get it right. Our teachers are working with them daily to try to get them transitioned back onto their campuses. And get them transitioned back hopefully better than they came.”

The high school offers comprehensive math, English one, introduction to biology and United States history to ninth grade students.

“What we are seeing is that many of our students are still needing a remediation piece in their second semester, and we feel like we can offer that,” Harrison said. “Comp math is the precursor to algebra one but is not tied to it. Meaning the student can fail the course and still go on to take algebra one, but when they take the state test it is a gamble of whether they will pass since they didn’t master the concepts in comp math one. Intro to biology is tied to biology, so if the student fails the intro course, they are not going to take biology that second semester. We feel we could come in and offer the second semester remediation piece, especially in those areas like comp math, where we have students who failed the course and then they go into algebra and fail that algebra test. I was also looking at comp reading as a possibility as well. That is impacting us. That is impacting our state accountability. What we are advocating is being able to provide say a comp math two or a repeat of comp math one. I think it would add viability to the campus.”

The board received the information Harrison presented and suggested she speak with Superintendent Ben Cox to work out the logistical details of her proposal before bringing it to the board again.

Harrison also praised the Fannie Mullins School GED program.

“The number one goal of our district is to have our students graduate with a high school diploma, and we believe all of them are capable of doing such,” Harrison said. “If students feel like the rigors of the schedule is a bit too much, then they have the GED program. We can boast a 100 percent graduation rate for those students that have stayed with Mrs. (Dorothy) Quinn (GED teacher).”

In other board business:

• The board approved the employment of Bob Allen as board attorney for BSD for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. This will be Allen’s 37th year of service to the board.

• The board approved Charles Donald Pulpwood’s bid of $66,476 regarding a timber sale on 45 acres of 16th Section land.

• The board approved Director of Finance Linda Reeves’ request to advertise the public hearing for the BSD’s budget for 2016-2017 to be held on June 21 at 6 p.m. in the conference room at the central office.

Correction: A previous version of the story listed Fannie Mullins School Director of Alternative Educational Services LaRenda Harrison’s name incorrectly.