Lincoln County School District Cites “Inequity” in Decision to Cut Expanded Options at Oregon Coast Community College
The governing boards of the Lincoln County School District and Oregon Coast Community College held a joint meeting this week to discuss the school district’s decision to curtail a decade old program allowing students to take classes at OCCC. (Photo by Larry Coonrod)
By Larry Coonrod
NEWPORT— Lincoln County School District officials plan to cut the number of juniors and seniors taking college classes at Oregon Coast Community College next year from about 178 to less than 20. At the same time, the district plans a major expansion of college credit opportunities at its four high school campuses.
Eric Clendenin, LCSD director of secondary education, said the decade-old expanded options program serves a limited number of students.
The district has roughly 700 juniors and seniors potentially eligible for college-level courses.
“You have great access for two of our high schools,” he told the OCCC Board of Directors. “We have four and we do not have equitable access for our students to dual credit opportunities across our district. The high schools of Waldport and Toledo have a massive inequity in terms of overall access.”
Clendenin made his remarks during a joint meeting between the school district board of education and OCCC’s board of directors this week.
According to Oregon Coast Community College, 174 Lincoln County students are participating in the expanded options program this year (LCSD says its data show 132 students). Averaging 13.6 credits per student, the cost to the district is about $278,000. That is up from $95,000 in 2010-11 when 74 students took part in the program.
According to Clendenin, the district is legally obligated to spend about $45,000 a year on expanded options.
Budget Constraints
The district’s decision derives in large part from the state legislature’s recently passed K-12 budget of $7.25 billion. In a bit of a paradox, while it is the largest school budget in state history, it leaves the school district facing staffing cuts.
Superintendent Steve Boynton says mandatory all-day kindergarten and underfunding for special needs students have left the district scrambling to make cuts without hurting classroom instruction.
Exceed High School
Boynton said about 17 juniors currently enrolled in expanded options will continue next year. Going forward, the district plans to authorize only students who have exceeded the teaching capacity of the school or have special circumstances to enroll in expanded options.
With the planned addition of more dual credit courses that count as both high school and college credit—that will be a challenging bar for most students. The district is working with the Oregon Institute of Technology and others to certify its most experienced educators to teach dual credit classes.
“College Got Me Ready for College”
Oregon Coast Community College president Birgitte Ryslinge said many students who might not have considered pursuing a college degree after graduation do so after being exposed to expanded option classes.
“Many of our students in rural areas are the first in their families to go to college,” she said. “So having that experience of coming to a college campus can mean a lot.”
According to OCCC data, high school students have saved nearly $1 million in tuition cost since 2011 by enrolling in expanded option classes. Several community leaders and students testified before the two boards Tuesday night in favor of keeping the expanded options.
“What I learned since starting (expanded options)classes here is that high school didn’t prepare me for college. College prepared me for college,” said Toledo Senior Chelsea Smith.“Before I started expanded options I wasn’t going to go to college, because I couldn’t afford it, my parents couldn’t afford it and I was on my own. I have now been accepted as a transfer student at PSU (Portland State University) and I am going in as a sophomore.”
School District Proposal
Boynton surprised the OCCC board with a proposed agreement between the two boards aimed at keeping a small number of students in expanded options while partnering to add more dual credit classes.
The OCCC board earlier this year offered to reduce tuition for the program from $100 to $50. Boynton’s proposal suggests a per college credit fee of $45 and waives the $25 dual credit fee for students on the free and reduced lunch program.
The planned reduction of students comes at a time when OCCC plans to add more programs.
“That is a huge hit to the college in terms of our own path forward,” Ryslinge said.
While the expanded option reduction remained a sticking point between the two education boards, they did agree to seek ways to align curriculums and classes to better benefit local high school students.
Contact reporter Larry Coonrod by emailing editor@lincolncountydispatch.com
