Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

TFS seeks to expand services in district

Representatives from Therapeutic Family Services asked the Gurdon School Board for permission to expand its services to the district.

Mike McKenzie, said TFS would like to expand the services offered at Gurdon to its ACE program, which is an Alternative Class Environment, for problem students who act up in class.

Students in the ACE program, he told the board at its March 23 meeting, would be placed in their own environment with a psychologist, case worker and teacher. What makes this different from other alternative education programs is therapy is used to help the students improve.

The program is being used at the recently consolidated Lafayette County School System, McKenzie said, and had been at Lewisville High School before the consolidation. It is also in place in all schools in Hot Springs and in Arkadelphia.

Burkes Williams wrote the program, McKenzie said, and if the board approves, it would begin at the start of the 2004-2005 school year. The program deals with two age groups, those from age 8-12 and from 13-18.

Steve Halter, the principal from Lafayette County High School, praised the program saying there are children in school now who wouldn't have been had the program not existed or been available. The school graduated the first one from the program last year, and this student had been two years behind as a senior.

At this time, he said, there are four seniors in the program and are on schedule to graduate. Three of these students wouldn't finish were it not for the ACE program.

The district, he said, chose to go with TFS two years ago because of having the organization on campus already. "They're available if the children need to talk to someone or need counseling. The counselor even goes to their homes and develops a relationship with the student's family."

Since the program has been instituted, Halter said, there have been fewer discipline problems, and it give the district another intervention option to help the children. In fact, he continued, the court in Lafayette County has asked if it could order children into this program.

"This has benefitted the children by having people on campus daily," Halter said. "We had dealt with other counselors, in Hope and Texarkana, but the parents complained saying the counselors weren't there after they'd made the trips to see them."

According to Halter, LCHS can have up to 15 students in the program as this is the number of computers the district has available. However, he said, the district prefers keeping the number around 13.

In addition to the educational and counseling portion of the program, he said, it also works physical education in as well. In fact, PE is required for the student to graduate.

For a child to be placed in the ACE program, Halter said, forms must be filled out, with each application examined by a committee. LCHS has a waiting list of students wanting to get into the ACE program, he added.

Williams said there would be two therapists, Joan Quinn and Theresa Smith, available at Gurdon, with another likely hired, along with other staff. The therapists would talk with the principals and staff at the schools.

The program, he said, is tailored to the school district, with people on site at campus. The therapy is done on campus, as a room is set aside for the ACE program by the district, under the agreement. Students are separated from the mainstream class setting.

"We will continue to provide school-based therapy," Williams said, "but we couldn't provide the teachers. This is a cooperative agreement with the school and we can share the costs. The goal is to allow teachers to teach while we provide the support staff."

Children in the program at LCHS perform better, Halter said. "This has been a blessing for us. Now we can teach classes, while the others are in a setting conducive for learning and are doing well."

Williams said there would be no additional cost to the district if it agrees to allow the program, and, in fact, the district would save money by keeping students in school.

Bobby Smithson, Gurdon superintendent, said the district has been approached by another group to provide the same type of service. He suggested the board hear from this group before making a decision.

The board agreed and will address this issue at its April meeting.