Lafayette Parish School System To Unveil New Program That Targets High School Dropouts

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL) -- The Lafayette Parish School System will unveil Wednesday a new program which aims to track down high school dropouts and re-enroll them into school with the goal of attaining a high school diploma.

School board superintendent Dr. Pat Cooper says the goal of the program is to go "on the offensive--we want to find every student who has dropped out in recent years and give them the chance to get back on the path to a diploma."

The WillGraduate program has been implemented in more than a dozen school districts throughout Louisiana, Cooper says, but Lafayette will be the largest state district to do so.

Counselors have already begun calling former students, Cooper says, identifying past "obstacles that have prevented academic success."

"Students don’t often drop out because of academic struggles alone, but rather because circumstances make school a lower priority in their lives," Cooper says. "Whatever the reason, the message that we’re trying to send to these young men and women is that we still believe in them."

Details about the program will be released at a press conference Wednesday at a press conference at the Lafayette Parish School System board room at 3 p.m.