EDINBURG, Texas - A school superintendent is urging her counterparts in other Rio Grande Valley districts to acknowledge their failures and work to bring dropouts aged 18 to 25 back to campus.
Dr. Alda T. Benavides, superintendent of schools for Edcouch-Elsa ISD, spoke at a meeting about dropout prevention and recovery that was hosted by Region One Education Service Center.
Among those attending the meeting were high school leaders, officials from South Texas College, and Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force point person Mario Reyna.
Towards the end of the meeting, Benavides was asked by Darcia Cuellar, Region One's dropout recovery program senior director, to explain why Edcouch-Elsa is about to start a dropout prevention and recovery program.
"Well, the way I see it and the way I sold it to the (Edcouch-Elsa) board (of trustees) was, we failed the kids. The school system failed the kids. And we owe it to the kids," Benavides said.
"If we are going to set them up for success, and that is what we are for, as educators, then we have got to step back and look to see what we can do to help."
Benavides said she asked all the teachers that did not get a summer school job to help with the dropout prevention and recovery effort. "I told them, you are going to be in the team."
Benavides said her team has identified 34 dropouts that have shown interest in returning to school. She said she has asked the school superintendents at La Villa and Monte Alto to share their dropout list so those former students can be approached about coming back to campus.
Benavides explained why she has been moved to action.
"I guess just hearing the kids when they started becoming the speakers at our graduation ceremonies and just giving them those opportunities and getting those health certifications starting as certified nursing assistants and then they went on and got their LVN and then RN and just hearing their success stories… there is no way to say no. We owe it to the kids."
Earlier in the meeting, information presented via a power point showed that there are currently 25,000 dropouts aged 18 to 25 in Hidalgo County. The State of Texas will give $11,000 per student if they are brought back to school to get their high school diploma. Funding is also available for them to get a post-secondary certificate.
"These numbers that were shared in terms of how many kids, 18 to 25... the 25,000 that do not have a high school diploma... oh my God, that is a lot of kids," Benavides said. "We say that we are about improving the quality of life of kids but at times we are failing kids."
Benavides said she agreed with an earlier speaker that being an educator is a calling. "You just want to help the kids and give them an opportunity, give them a fighting chance to get their diploma and get some kind of certification and then help them get on their way."
Editor's Note: The above news story is the first in a three-part series on Region One Education Service Center's Recover, Restore, and Redirect initiative.
