Lansing Mayor Andy Schor wants to use federal relief funding to hire specialists who will work to ensure the district's students graduate on time.
The most recent data shows 62-percent of Lansing high schoolers graduated in four years. But Superintendent Ben Shuldiner wants to bring that rate up to 85% by 2025. That’s why he supports hiring more staff members who will focus on helping students get their diplomas.
“You can have this one person who's calling who's supporting, making sure they're going to class making sure that they're doing their homework, making sure that maybe something's happening in the family, they can create wraparound services.” said Superintendent Ben Shuldiner.
The mayor's asking the City Council to approve two years of funding for graduation specialist positions using Lansing's allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act. A non-profit called the Lansing Promise is committed to funding the program for two years after that.
The most recent state data shows sixty two percent of Lansing School district students graduated in four years. That’s lower the statewide average of just over 80%.