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BY CHARLOTTE REAMES

The Communities in Schools (CIS) program, a dropout prevention initiative partnered with Troup County School System, presented an informational report to the city council during this week’s Lagrange City Council work session.

According to the CIS Regional Director for region one, Tabitha Lewis-Coverson, CIS serves over 120,000 Georgia students, which is up from 110,000 last year. Seven school districts have joined in the last year, totaling 49, and 223 schools are enrolled. 

CIS tracks outcomes for school attendance, behavior and coursework. In Troup County, they saw an improvement of 70 percent in attendance for students served. One student who was absent about 40 days last year has so far only missed 7 this school year, said Lewis-Coverson. 

As for behavior, 66 percent of CIS students improved their behavior. Of those who had a C average or lower, 70 percent of those students improved their academics. 

CIS serves 11 TCSS schools and 1,100 students, which Lewis-Coverson said is 75 percent of each school’s population. Lewis-Coverson said they hope to be in 13 schools at the beginning of the next school year. 

Of last year’s CIS students, 98 percent were promoted to the next grade. The students also had a graduation rate of 100 percent in Troup County. 

“So for every dollar that’s invested in CIS, it’s an $11.60 economic benefit to the community. When our students are successful — they’re in school, they’re graduating — you see a reduction in need for social services,” Lewis-Coverson said, “As you all have been looking at a reduction in crime, kids entering our juvenile justice and our adult justice system.”

Lewis-Coverson highlighted the volunteer work that the mayor and council in LaGrange have done for CIS. They were readers at the Literacy on the Lawn event, a literacy picnic that involved Troup County’s elementary schools.

“We have the food trucks out there, and people from the community volunteer, and they read to our students,” Lewis-Coverson said. 

Lewis-Coverson said CIS’s evidence-based research shows that students in the fourth and eighth grade are at or above grade level in reading and math when they’re involved with Communities in Schools. 

“We’re trying to get the families and the kids engaged and increase their love of reading,” she said. 

Another focus for CIS is supporting rural communities. Many families in rural school districts don’t have access to the internet and other resources. 

Through a partnership with Troup County School System and West Georgia Technical College, CIS has moved into its own building space across from the Callaway Conference Center. Thanks to Georgia Power, the new office space is equipped with a washer and dryer for parents to use while using the internet to apply for jobs and other needs. CIS also helps parents apply for health insurance coverage for their children. 

CIS in Troup County is now gearing up for its summer programs. Last year, Lewis-Coverson said they had 102 kids. This year, they will have fewer slots available to better manage programming. 

“We try to expose them to things that they normally would not see,” Lewis-Coverson said. 

The students attend career talks and field trips that expose them to opportunities that they might not have ever considered after high school. Last year, the students visited the Delta Flight Museum, the Tennessee Aquarium and went on hiking trips.

A lot of kids have never been beyond the boundaries of Georgia,” Lewis-Coverson said. “So we try to make sure that they see things and are exposed to things and different careers, so that they start thinking outside the box.”

This May, CIS will hold a conference highlighting mental health resources for students. The program will be focusing on a mentorship program, in which individuals in the community donate 30 minutes a week to mentoring a high school student.

“Thirty minutes a week makes all the difference in the world to a child, especially the ones who don’t have that parental support at home,” Lewis-Coverson said.