While scores of former students across America are working through the particulars of President Biden’s college loan forgiveness plan, high schools across West Virginia are being recognized for their role in getting their students ready for what comes next for them — whether it’s a college campus or a career technical education program.
The state Higher Education Policy Commission earlier this month lauded 38 high schools, in locales from the Eastern Panhandle to the southern coalfields, for that effort.
Commission Chancellor Sarah Armstrong Tucker said the schools were making an investment in West Virginia’s future.
“It is so important that we work together to help students pursue their goals and ensure our state’s workforce remains competitive,” she said.
Gov. Jim Justice four years ago launched a statewide campaign, “West Virginia’s Climb,” which aims to have 60% of the state’s workforce prepared with a formal credential after high school by 2030.
Getting Mountain State students to continue their learning after high school has long been a lag, despite lofty graduation numbers.
In fact, the 89.4% high school graduation rate West Virginia boasted in 2017 was the third-highest in the nation that year, coming in just behind Iowa and New Jersey.
The elation was short-lived. Statewide, only 55% of those graduates were enrolled on college campuses that fall, and about 30% of those had to take remedial courses to catch up.
In 2020, the pandemic hit — and districts are still dealing with the aftermath of the governor’s directive that spring to shift all schools to remote learning, as the coronavirus raged.
Going into 2021, more than half of Mon’s high school graduates from the spring — 56.1% — were enrolled in colleges that fall.
The local district, though, is also re-articulating the brand, by way of science, technology, education and math: The goal is to build a $72 million, stand-alone STEM high school by 2030, in accordance with the schoolwide Comprehensive Education Facilities Plan.
“Our motivation is to get our kids into post-secondary learning, whether it’s a technical program or college classroom,” Deputy Superintendent Donna Talerico said.
“The goal is to get them trained for a paycheck.”
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