Some of them might be former drop-outs, but a group of students at Seaquam Secondary are now fighting to stay in school.
Members of the high school’s alternate program – for teens who haven’t had success in the mainstream school system – found out last week their specialized program will be cut at the end of the year.
And that, says student Jennie Hubert, has left her and most of her fellow students uncertain what they’ll do next year.
While Jennie, 17, had dropped out of several different schools in the past, she had finally found acceptance and a sense of comfort at Seaquam Alternate and was looking forward graduating from high school there.
“No other school worked. I absolutely love coming here – I look forward to coming here,” she said of Seaquam. “Every student does. The teachers have such a good connection with us.”
With signs reading Save Seaquam Alternate, and Keep Seaquam Alternate Open, Jennie and her classmates began collecting signatures on a petition late last Friday morning and by early afternoon, they already had six pages of supporters.
The 15 or so students were told the program is ending because of funding cuts.
The Delta School District did not return calls from The Leader.
“They’ve said it’s for our own good and for our education, but it’s doing us no good,” said Jennie. “It’s causing stress on us and a bunch of stress on other schools because it will be more crowded.”
Jennie’s mom hopes, for the sake of her daughter’s future, the alternate program can be spared.
“She doesn’t want to go to another alternate program,” said Debbie Hubert. “She says she may just quit again if they don’t keep this one open.”
A website has also been set up to protest the program’s closure: http://seaquamalternate.webs.com/
