Explanation
Background:
This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Neighborhoods to enter into a grant agreement with the Young Men’s Christian Association of Central Ohio (YMCA) for the purposes of administering a Nontraditional Education Learning Center (NELC) for students at West High School.
Since 2000 the YMCA’s Juvenile Justice Program has served over 60,000 middle and high school youth. In response to the need for targeted social-emotional and academic supports for students who are at risk of suspension or falling behind in school, the YMCA, in partnership with West High School and the Hilltop Library, is proposing a program called the Nontraditional Education Learning Center. Through the establishment of this program these partners aim to increase the graduation rate and decrease the rate of dropouts and chronically absent students during the 2025 - 2026 school year and 2026 summer.
The purpose of the of the Nontraditional Education Learning Center is to establish an offsite program that provides an alternative for West High School students that are facing suspension or are at risk of falling behind in school. During the school year, this program will be run out of the Hilltop Branch Library and will be administered by the YMCA. West High School will identify students to attend the program, and provide security, transportation, and social work supports. During the summer (June-August), 2026 NELC staff will work with any West student who attended NELC programming during the 2025-2026 school year at West High School.
This program will directly support action steps 6.2 - Increase 4-year high school graduation rate - and 6.3 - Reduce high school dropouts - of the Envision Hilltop Community Plan.
Fiscal Impact: The fiscal impact associated with the execution of the grant agreement is in the amount of $172,238.00 and is to come from Fund 1000 General Fund (GF).
Emergency Justification: Emergency action is requested in order to ensure the fu...
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