Alternative 2 Expulsion

The mission of the Alternative to Expulsion (A2E) program is to provide a caring and structured
educational environment for students who have been recommended for expulsion or have been
expelled, that will enable them to earn high school credits, identify career goals, develop positive life
skills and prepare them to return to their home school ready to achieve academically and avoid
behaviors that resulted in their placement in the program.

1. Provide a structured environment under the direction of a Certified Teacher for students who are recommended for expulsion or have been expelled to earn high school credits utilizing credit recovery software. The teacher will provide academic support as needed.
2. Provide those students with support in the areas of career and life planning, anger management and drug/alcohol resistance. We envision preparing students to return to their school with identified career and life goals and the realization of what they need to do in order to achieve their goals.
3. Decrease the number of students who are recommended for expulsion again.
4. Decrease the number of dropouts in La Porte County. Students who are expelled often do not earn any credits toward graduation during the period of their expulsion. Those students get behind and are at risk of dropping out, which is costly to our society and the individual. By affording those students the opportunity to earn credits, we can decrease the dropout rate.

• Dropouts make up nearly half the heads of households on welfare. Over 25 to 30 years, a dropout can cost a community as much as $500,000 in public assistance, health care, and incarceration costs.
• The rate of engagement in high-risk behaviors such as premature sexual activity, early pregnancy, delinquency, crime, violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide has found to be significantly higher among dropouts.
• Dropouts make up nearly half the prison population.
• High percentages of young dropouts are either not employed or are not even in the labor force. Data from the 2000 census show that high school dropouts had only a 52% employment rate in 1999.
• In 1971, male dropouts earned $35,087 (in 2002 dollars), falling to $23,903 in 2002, (a decline of 347%).
• In the same period, the earnings of female dropouts fell from $19,888 to $17,114. Recent dropouts will earn $200,000 less than high school graduates and $800,000 less than college graduates, in their lives.