Second chance

Terry Webster

Monday, Nov. 20, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

Determined to earn her high school diploma, 17-year-old Chastity McLaughlin takes classes from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., works two eight-hour shifts on weekends and takes care of her 6-month-old baby.

"I just work as hard as I can at school, so I don't have much (studying) to do at home," she said.

In a school district plagued with the nation's highest dropout and teenage pregnancy rates, McLaughlin could have had an easy out.

She didn't take it.

A senior at Horizon West High School, McLaughlin is one of the Clark County School District's rising number of students in the alternative education program.

Alternative education targets students with attendance or discipline problems, along with those who lack enough credits to graduate. The program served 35,733 students last year and is growing at a faster rate than the district's total enrollment.

Since 1992 alternative education's population has increased by about 9 percent each year, except for a decrease in 1997-98. Over the same period, the school district's student population grew around 7 percent each year.

After attending classes at Horizon during the day, McLaughlin stays for classes at the Sunset program, a night school.

"When I was pregnant, I had morning sickness all of the time, and I couldn't even stay in a class without having to leave," McLaughlin said. "I dropped out of school for a half year. But now I'm getting caught up, and I'm going to graduate on time."

Horizon, which serves mainly students with attendance or course credit problems, is just one choice for alternative education. Principal Steve Henick said about one-half of his students graduate.

There are 13 alternative education programs districtwide, from Opportunity School, where students with discipline problems attend at least nine weeks, to adult education, where those who never finished school have a second chance.

Alternative education's overall graduation rates average 2 percent to 3 percent. But those numbers can belie the program's success.

Of the 8,759 students enrolled in adult education in 1999-2000, for example, 492 graduated -- a rate of 5.6 percent. However, 1,020 earned a General Equivalency Diploma, a rate of 11.6 percent.

"Most of them are not seniors," Sidney Franklin, alternative education's assistant superintendent, said. "At best, about 500 of them would be seniors."

Alternative education's program for students who are inmates at the county's juvenile detention facility or jail had 1,413 students, with 96 graduating and 165 earning a G.E.D. The Horizon/ Sunset program had 3,800 students in 1999-2000 and 303 graduates.

Alternative education also includes the district's program for home-bound students and independent study.

All of the students have one thing in common: They don't have enough course credits. In Clark County, students must complete 22.5 credits and pass the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam in order to earn a high school diploma.

"Most of the students are juniors or seniors who are 10 or 12 credits behind," Franklin said. "Some of these kids are just lost. They don't know how they are going to get from here to there."

Franklin said the graduation rates should not be alarming, because some of the students will need a year or more to get caught up.

"But when I see the determination of some of them," Franklin said, "I wonder how the traditional schools ever lost them."

A lack of needed credits is something 28 percent of all high school students faced last year, according to a recent school district study.

Alternative education also mirrors growth issues in the traditional schools.

In the Opportunity Schools, 60 percent of the students are housed in portable classrooms, and the four Horizon schools run on double sessions from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Franklin said.

Keeping that in mind, officials are trying to meet the growing demand for alternative schooling. The district recently started an elementary school program for students with discipline programs and is opening a new alternative high school in the northwest area next year.

Franklin and Henick say the true reward comes when students succeed, despite every obstacle.

At Horizon West, McLaughlin's senior classmates have had their own victories.

Katie Stemen is an aspiring journalist who just finished a story on teenage fatherhood for the school newspaper.

After improving her attitude toward school and her attendance, Crystal Ellefson is planning a career in the dental hygiene field.

Michael Czaruk and Adonia Stiles both said they are doing better at Horizon, which allows them more individual attention. Samantha Knight is catching up on her course credits after a bout with pneumonia caused her to fall behind.

Valerie Humphrey, Adonia Stiles' mother, said Horizon West's principal, Henick, has encouraged and supported her daughter over the past two years.

"He is exceptional," she said. "He is so supportive of those kids. He calls and writes letters to let me know how she's doing. I've never experienced a principal like him."