New Goal Fits With Nonprofit Organization’s Mission To Help Young People Stay In School And Prepare For Life
RALEIGH, N.C. – Linda Harrill, president and CEO of Communities In Schools of North Carolina (CISNC) (www.cisnc.org), a nonprofit that helps youths stay in school, has announced that the organization salutes the Nov. 17 decision by the Wake County Board of Education to set a goal of having a 100 percent graduation rate for the Wake County public school system
by 2014. Currently, 78.8 percent of Wake’s high school students are graduating on time in four years, which is higher than the state average of 70.2 percent, but lower than the 82.3 percent Wake graduation rate of two years ago.
The 100 percent graduation rate goal fits with the CISNC mission of helping young people successfully learn, stay in school, and prepare for life. CISNC partners with all community members – parents, social service providers, businesses, civic organizations, local government and educators – to address and prevent school dropout problems. Thanks to generous support on every level, extending to our state legislators, more than 112,000 students in 57 counties received assistance via Communities In Schools (CIS) programs during the 2006-2007 school year, the most recent year with figures available. Of those students, 93 percent were promoted and/or graduated, and just less than 3 percent dropped out.
Too many North Carolina youths are leaving school without graduating and consequently lacking the skills needed to succeed in life – for example, the overwhelming majority of North Carolina prison inmates have never completed high school. By establishing a 100 percent graduation rate standard in one of the biggest and fastest growing counties in the state, the Wake County Board of Education is setting a precedent to fight dropouts for other North Carolina counties to emulate for the future of our next generations.
