[Cadre-politics] One Lowell / school committee

[Dan MacNeil]

Below is a note from Victoria Fahlberg
of One Lowell, if you care for the quality of Lowell Schools, it 
is worth reading.

I'm planning to be @ the school committee meeting on Wednesday 
and would welcome company.

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You may have heard about a recent motion of the High School 
subcommittee of the Lowell School Committee to suspend ONE 
Lowell's highly praised truancy prevention program from operating 
in the High School for failing to provide reports.

Although the subject of detailed, weekly, narrative reports on 
every student was discussed during a meeting with the High School 
in 2006, it was decided that e-mails, phone conversations, and 
in-school meetings, (the reporting method employed by our 
liaisons) would be sufficient so that everyone could focus their 
time on the students.  We always aspire to regular, open, and 
mutual communication with our partners in order to ensure
the best interest of the student and their family.  In the four 
years since we started work ing with the Lowell Public Schools, 
we have never heard a single complaint regarding lack of 
communication until the report at the subcommittee meeting on 
Feb. 27, 2008.

The ONE Lowell Truancy Prevention Program is provided at no cost 
to the Lowell Public Schools and addresses a major problem faced 
by school systems across the state: the large number of young 
people failing to graduate. Last year, about 27% of students who 
had enrolled as freshman in 2003 at Lowell High School failed to 
graduate in 2007.  In Lowell, many of those students come from 
families where English is a second language.  ONE Lowell's 
liaisons are culturally and linguistically equipped to reach 
these students and families when others cannot.


The program is straightforward and effective. When a pattern of 
truancy is identified by school personnel, ONE Lowell intervenes, 
working with the student, family and school system to improve 
attendance before the downward spiral results in the student 
dropping out of school.  We ended the school year last year 
having helped 70% of those students on our caseload to
improve their attendance.  This year we are currently at 71%.



*_On Wednesday, March 19th, 7:00pm at City Hall,_* the School 
Committee will be discussing the subcommittee's recommendation. 
The stakes are high and it is critical that people like you, who 
believe in our work, show your support for this critical and 
highly effective program for students from the immigrant and 
refugee communities.  _If you believe that immigrant and
refugee students at Lowell High deserve the opportunity we 
provide them, please come and voice your support._

Victoria Fahlberg
Executive Director
One Lowell