The General Education Development (GED) program for Greenwood public schools, in what Superintendent Dr. Leslie Daniels called "serious business," was reinstated Tuesday night at the Greenwood School Board meeting.
Students who are over-aged for their grade level and identified as likely to drop out of high school are eligible for the program, said Dr. Jennifer Wilson, who presented the program to the board.
Wilson is director of curriculum, instruction, testing and professional development for the school district.
To qualify for the program, students must be at least 16 years old, must be two years behind in school or have less than four credits, and must have exhausted all other opportunities to get a diploma, Wilson said.
Also, "students that enroll in the alternative program for disciplinary reasons are not eligible for the program until all goals for exiting the behavior modification program have been met," she said.
There are only 20 slots for the program. Students who are chosen and want to participate must get parental consent.
"Students can't jump in and out of this program," Daniels said. "We have an alternative school for all our bad kids.
"This is a school for second chances, he said. "It's serious business."
The GED program, lasting two years, will consist of tutoring, job interview skills, career shadowing and counseling sessions.
Students will not be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities.
Board member Anjuan Brown asked how parents would be involved, and Wilson said parental involvement would occur through the counseling component.
The ACE GED testing service states that one of every seven students graduates with a GED, Wilson said, and one of every 20 students entering postsecondary education enters with a GED.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Margaret Pulley said the Greenwood public school GED program previously existed around 2002.
