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Graduation coaches credited with tracking, home visits and reengagement; staff ask board for more positions
Summary
District staff and school practitioners told the board graduation coaches are central to reducing dropouts and chronic absenteeism through MTSS meetings, targeted interventions and home visits; presenters asked for additional coach allocations and follow-up data on discipline and caseloads.
Norfolk Public Schools presented an update on graduation coaches, describing the positions as a core element in reengaging students and improving on-time graduation.
Miss Moore, the district lead for graduation coaching, said coaches operate at the intersection of academics, attendance and engagement. She described coaches’ daily work: monitoring credits, convening weekly on‑time graduation meetings, tracking early-warning indicators and implementing individualized interventions. The district allocates two graduation coaches for each of its five high schools, with some schools intentionally receiving additional staff based on need.
Michael McCracken, assistant principal at Maury High School, and Wesley Price, a senior graduation coach, spoke to the board. McCracken described MTSS coordination, home visits and partnerships that address barriers such as unstable housing, lack of utilities or other basic needs that affect attendance. "They meet families where they are, sometimes literally in their homes, to understand the barriers that are invisible in a spreadsheet," McCracken said. Price described an open-door approach to seniors, daily progress monitoring and dropout-recovery work that includes alternative pathways like GED or credit recovery.
Board members asked about coach-to-student ratios, data logging and whether schools maintain counts of students who use coach services; presenters said school-level logs exist but centralized tallies were not yet aggregated and the district will provide additional addenda. Miss Moore formally requested consideration for additional graduation coaches, noting that some coaches are responsible for caseloads approaching 700–800 students and arguing an equity-based allocation approach.
Board members and staff also discussed related supports — attendance technicians, social workers, school psychologists and tutoring resources — and asked staff to identify vacancies and barriers to filling critical positions.
Presenters offered to return with more detailed data and recommended practices; the board recorded requests for follow-up reports and an addendum with counts of referrals, suspensions and coach contacts.
