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Board approves mentoring contracts with Girls on the Rise and Cut Different; appear to be funded through Title I and improvement grants
Summary
The board approved two standard agreements with community mentoring organizations: Girls on the Rise (serving 45 female students at three sites) and Cut Different (serving 75 male students at four sites). The Girls on the Rise vote was 4-1; Cut Different also passed 4-1.
The Marion County School Board on Sept. 23 approved standard agreements with two outside mentoring organizations: Girls on the Rise LLC and Cut Different Inc. Both agreements were presented to the board with site lists, expected student counts and stated metrics for tracking attendance, behavior and academic growth.
Girls on the Rise: The agreement will serve 45 female students in grades 3 through 12 at Pheasant Elementary, Legacy Elementary and Bridgeway Academy. Board discussion and presentation said the program will focus on academic performance, attendance and social-emotional skills. Funding for the Girls on the Rise sites will come from district sources identified in the presentation. The motion to approve passed 4-1.
Cut Different: The agreement will provide school-based empowerment services to 75 male students in grades 3 through 8 at Pheasant Elementary, Legacy Elementary, Lakewood Middle School and Oakcrest Elementary during the 2025-26 school year. District staff said one school will use Title I funding to pay for the agreement and that Unified School Improvement Grant funds will support the other sites. The board recorded a 4-1 vote to approve the Cut Different agreement.
Board members praised both organizations' community work and asked about data integration. Area superintendent remarks said both groups will use their own tracking mechanisms and that each site will have monitoring through the district data dashboard that includes grades, attendance, behavior and test results. Several board members noted the importance of mentoring but also asked for academic outcome data; one board member recorded a public explanation of a "nay" vote based on academic outcome data he said was below expectations for a previously paid mentorship program.
Clarifying details given at the meeting included the stated student counts (45 for Girls on the Rise; 75 for Cut Different), grade ranges and funding sources (Title I for one school and Unified School Improvement Grant for others).
