By Lisa Rossi: The Herald-Sun
June 30, 2008

DURHAM -- Durham Technical Community College might loosen its restrictions on whether minors who drop out of high school can enroll in adult classes that prepare them to take their GED.

This is a step away from the current practice. For several years, Durham has been one of the few community colleges in the state that has restricted enrollment of 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts in General Educational Development test classes.

A GED is a series of five tests in writing, language, social studies, science and mathematics. It is designed to measure a test-taker's skills against those of a typical high school graduate.

The old Durham Tech policy was rooted in beliefs that students motivated enough to be in a structured educational setting should attend public schools, where there are more social and transportation services. Officials also were concerned about the safety of minors sharing classroom space with adults.

The debate over whether to allow minors in adult GED classrooms comes amid growing community cries to deal with the 508 students who dropped out of Durham Public Schools in the 2006-07 academic year.

Advocates say youth who aren't permitted to take GED classes until they are 18 have two years after the legal dropout age of 16 to get in trouble.

"Literally, they take our kids' education away," said Delores Evans, 48. "Now they are on the street. They have no education. They are not going to get no jobs. They are going to crime. Because they got to survive."

Evans, from Durham, is taking classes to obtain her GED at a nonprofit program in Durham. She has eight adult children, one, 16, who recently dropped out of Durham public schools.

There is also growing pressure to settle the issue because Bill Ingram, president of Durham Tech, said federal money that pays for adult literacy programs now comes with new rules that require community colleges to enroll 16- and 17-year-olds in GED programs.

"We want to devise a process that identifies those young people who may be better served with a GED program and focus our attention on that population, while referring others to one of the many alternatives now available in the Durham Public Schools," Ingram wrote in an e-mail this week.

Durham school district officials said they support measures to keep at-risk students in the school system, where the end result is a diploma, which they say carries more weight than a GED.

Deborah Pitman, assistant superintendent at Durham public schools, said the district will focus its efforts on getting students their high school diploma.

"There are so many limitations that come with a GED," Pitman said. "There will be a small number of students that a GED may be an option, but the school district is committed to the high school diploma."

Young people are more competitive in seeking employment or further education with a high school diploma, she added.

Ellen Reckhow, chairwoman of Durham County Board of County Commissioners, said there should be more options for the hundreds of high school drop outs each year.

She said 16- and 17-year-olds might thrive in what she called a "structured" environment at Durham Tech.

Victoria Peterson, a community activist who runs a nonprofit program that provides GED classes, is also among those who want 16- and 17-year-olds to be allowed to take GED preparation classes at Durham Tech.

"These kids are in crisis themselves," she said, "and to tie them down into a system that is really literally destroying them is unfair."