If you ask almost any teacher, they will likely tell you that even one student who drops out of high school is too many. While the Lake Travis Independent School District has a very low dropout rate, the school board is still planning to budget money to bring the rate down even further.
State records show LTISD’s dropout rate is around .09-percent.
On Wednesday, the LTISD school board voted to move forward with including nearly $251,000 into the next year’s budget, which is thanks to the passage of House Bill 5 in 2013 that provides extra funding. During the 83rd legislative session, state lawmakers established the new Foundation High School Program as the default graduation program for all students entering high school beginning in 2014-2015. The State Board of Education adopted rules related to the new Foundation High School Program in January 2014.
The funds will be put toward a variety of opportunites aimed at underperforming students who are at risk of dropping out.
“Basically, we have about $250,000 that we actually use for tutorials, for late bus runs for kids who are willing to stay and get tutorials or help from their teachers,” said Johnny Hill, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Financial, and Auxiliary Services. “We budget monies to actually help in those situations, to help kids do well on their exit exams. Anything to help accelerate their education.”
After-school and summer school programs are also covered under the funding.
The school board will take a final vote in August.
