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Calaveras County has one of the few remaining programs in the area that helps adult students earn their high school diplomas, and its waiting list is growing every day. Students from Tuolumne County have started expressing interest in joining the Calaveras County Office of Education program, according to the county’s Alternative Education Principal Scott Nanik.
He attributed some of the increased demand to Sonora Union High School District’s recent announcement that its adult education program will shutter for the fall semester. But budget constraints mean that Nanik and the adult education teacher, Diana Mayben, must limit the number of students in the Calaveras program at any given time. In the past three weeks, the waitlist has expanded from 15 students to 35. “We need to give preference to students in Calaveras County first, but if we have openings we want to serve any adult who wants to get their diploma,” Nanik said. Meanwhile, Sonora Union High School District Superintendent Mike McCoy said the district’s adult education program hasn’t gone away for good. “The instructor, Rich Murrison, resigned,” McCoy said. “He was an extraordinarily gifted teacher. Since we’re considering budget cuts right now, we’re looking at ways to reconstitute the program.” McCoy explained that if the district does choose to bring back adult education, it’ll happen in spring 2013. The program will take a different, and less costly, form. Murrison said that about 60 students have finished Sonora High’s program this year, and a further 20 may graduate by year’s end. For students who want to continue studying next fall, Columbia College’s GED preparation program and the Calaveras adult ed program are two possible options. Adult ed programs serve students who dropped out of high school or failed to earn enough high school credits to graduate by the cutoff age. According to Nanik, the typical deadline for finishing high school is the summer after a student turns 18. Special education students may continue high school until they’re 22. In the Calaveras County adult ed program, which is an independent study format, Mayben has students who range from 18 to 50. Many hold jobs at the same time. “It’s really difficult for a lot of them, and we have to be as flexible with them as we can, especially the ones who have seasonal work,” Mayben said. “They hold their own.” GED programs are distinct from adult education programs. Students get a GED, or “General Equivalency Development,” certificate after passing an exam that covers language, social studies, science and math. The certificate is not the same as a diploma. That difference is increasingly important, according to Nanik. GED certificates are “not accepted in all fields,” he said, noting that the U.S. military has shown more reluctance to recruit adults with a GED only. “We’re starting to see students who have their GEDs come back and still want to get their diplomas, especially in such a tight work environment where employers can basically set the bar wherever they want,” Nanik explained. Yet the number of adult ed programs in California has dwindled. Claudia Davis, Calaveras County’s associate superintendent for business services, said the change is the result of a 2009 state law that made adult ed funding available for general purposes. School districts may choose to keep adult education programs with funding frozen at earlier levels. But a large number have funneled the money back into K-12 programs instead, compensating for billions of dollars in public education cuts within the past few years. “It’s really sad for a lot of communities,” McCoy said. “Bottom line right now: We’re focused on core academic programs at the K-12 level. But we know there’s a strong community interest in adult ed.” The Calaveras adult ed program is “hanging by a thread,” according to County Superintendent Kathy Northington. “It may be gone in another year or so, depending on how things go with the state budget,” Northington said. Funding for the Calaveras program is fixed at about $80,000 a year, Davis said. The office can’t hire new staff to accommodate the increasing demand. For prospective adult ed students, that means getting into a high school diploma program may take determination and patience. Ricky Toepper, 18, of Mountain Ranch, was behind on credits at Calaveras High School and realized he wouldn’t graduate on time. Halfway through the 2011-12 school year, he began exploring options that would help him earn his diploma. “I did computer homeschool...but that didn’t end up working,” Toepper said. “I ended up going to Nanik, because I know he helped my brother out a lot.” When he first called Nanik, the adult education program was full. That didn’t deter him. According to Nanik, six weeks of dogged phone calls from Toepper ensued. (“I kept calling and kept calling and kept calling,” Toepper recalled.) Toepper’s persistence finally paid off. He is now taking independent study classes to earn his remaining credits and expects to graduate in June. The classes involve textbooks and weekly in-person meetings with Mayben to review work. “I don’t think I can go to a trade school or college without a diploma,” Toepper said. “Everyone needs a diploma, so I jumped on it as fast as I could.” Toepper’s stepfather, Donald Brenner, encouraged him to keep trying. Brenner said he was scared by the possibility that more students Ricky’s age might give up on education because of adult ed waiting lists. “When you’ve got a child wanting to go back to school, that’s hard to find,” Brenner said. “I didn’t let Ricky get discouraged. But some other kids, they would just say, ‘Screw it, I’m done. I’m not going to (wait) anymore.’” Northington said she hopes California will start prioritizing education, including adult education programs. “You’ve got to make sure you have a good workforce and a good citizenry of people to run the country and government and small businesses,” she said. “Without a good education, that becomes harder and harder. I have a hard time understanding how we can’t put education in the forefront.”
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