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Raytown C-2 board approves Graduation Alliance agreement to recover dropouts at no cost to district
Summary
The Raytown C-2 Board approved an agreement with Graduation Alliance to locate and reengage students who dropped out (up to age 21). District staff said the vendor hires its own teachers and will be paid only when students graduate; the district reported no upfront cost.
The Raytown C-2 Board of Education voted to approve a Missouri virtual school and reengagement agreement with Graduation Alliance, a vendor that will search for and enroll students who previously dropped out and provide certified teachers and wraparound services at no upfront cost to the district.
Board members said the arrangement aims to improve graduation outcomes for students who left school. Presenter (speaker 4) told the board that Graduation Alliance has operated in states including Michigan, Florida and Arizona and has “about a 75 percent graduation rate” in other jurisdictions. The presenter said the company hires its own staff to locate dropouts, enroll them in the program and support them through completion: “They provide the certified teachers…When they finish, they become Raytown graduates.”
Why it matters: district officials and trustees said recovering former students boosts graduation counts and can help students who otherwise lack local supports. Board members pressed staff on program scope, oversight and cost; staff said the vendor’s model shifts outreach work to the contractor and that the district will not pay for recovered students unless they graduate.
District staff answered several questions from trustees. Jackie (speaker 6) explained the district will refer lists of known dropouts but that the vendor will do the outreach and recovery work. When asked if the arrangement requires any district funding, the presenter said, “We don't pay anything because we don't give money for those students because they're dropouts. This is at 0 cost to us.” The board asked about the time window for recovery; staff said the vendor will attempt to recover students back to the 2023 cohort and will work with individuals up to age 21.
Trustees also asked whether a student recovered while living outside the district would count as a Raytown graduate; staff replied that a recovered student who is not enrolled elsewhere remains a Raytown graduate. A board member who helped vet the company said colleagues around the country recommended the vendor and that the district performed its own vetting before forwarding the vendor to curriculum staff for further questions. “I believe that 1 dropout is 1 dropout too many,” the board member said.
The motion to approve the agreement was seconded and carried. The board discussion and approvals covered both the vendor agreement and clarifying implementation questions; staff indicated they would continue to coordinate with the vendor and curriculum offices on next steps.
The board did not specify a dollar cost to the district for the agreement; staff characterized the contract as performance-based (vendor paid when students graduate) and described it as no-cost up front to the district.
Provenance: topic introduced SEG 109; final approval and related Q&A concluded SEG 297.
