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District 49 presents new HSED/GED online course option for expelled and alternate‑education students
Summary
Deputy Superintendent Dr. Nancy Lamont asked the board to approve adding HSED/GED courses to the online expulsion/alternate‑education catalog (delivered via Edgenuity) to let students nearing graduation or awaiting adjudication pursue a high‑school‑equivalency diploma and be coded as completers rather than dropouts.
Deputy Superintendent Dr. Nancy Lamont told the El Paso County Colorado School District 49 Board of Education on Oct. 23 that the district plans to offer High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED)/GED courses through its online expulsion and alternate‑education program using the Edgenuity platform.
Lamont said the courses are intended for a small number of students: those late in their junior or senior years who would prefer to pursue a high‑school‑equivalency diploma and students placed in online alternate‑education while awaiting adjudication of criminal or other unlawful behavior. The administration proposes adding the HSED/GED offerings to the district’s official course catalog so they can be assigned through existing online programs for selected students.
Lamont described placement and progress monitoring via an Edgenuity pretest (a district‑administered diagnostic aligned to GED test topics) and said that the district would not conduct the formal GED test on campus; students would take the GED at external testing sites (she referenced District 11 testing locations and Mitchell as an example). Lamont said the intent is to reduce dropout rates by coding students who complete the HSED/GED as completers rather than dropouts and to provide a clear path to post‑secondary options, military service, or career training.
Board members asked for clarification about the GED test topics and how reading comprehension items differ across content areas; Lamont explained ELA/social studies/science items focus on reading for comprehension and that Edgenuity coursework would be targeted to address skill deficits identified in diagnostic testing. The board also asked whether students in online expulsion programs who request a GED now will be able to do so; Lamont said this would apply to a small number of students who have requested the option and that the current online expulsion program is showing strong engagement.
Next steps: the board indicated no objections to moving the item forward during the meeting. Administration said it will finalize course descriptions and course catalog entries and bring the finalized text back to the board for formal approval if required by policy.
