Dartmouth parents want change to keep kids in school

A handful of parents from a low-income neighbourhood in north Dartmouth are urging officials to shake up the school day to help their children stay in school.

The group, named Take Action, has asked the Halifax Regional School Board to extend the school day by 45 minutes for primary to Grade 2 students. The parents have suggested the school day start at 8:30 a.m. and extend to 3:00 p.m. with tutoring options.

The idea is to provide more support to children who live in high crime and poor neighbourhoods who are at greater risk of dropping out.

Take Action member Allana Loh said test scores are so low and dropouts so high, a new approach is needed.

Our kids don’t dream about being lawyers, doctors, firemen, anything like that.- Roseanna Cleveland

“Just call us a reconstruction zone and start from the ground up,” she said. “Tear us apart. Use us as an example and bring us up to, or to exceed, the norm.”

Take Action said 38 per cent of their students are reading at Grade 3 levels compared to the Halifax region average of 79 per cent.

“I don’t believe the community understands the value of education. We have so many children who arrive at school late, who are taken out of school early,” said Loh.

Troubling dropout rates

Two years ago the United Way hired a consultant to find out how many students from north Dartmouth neighbourhoods were not completing high school.

Researchers looked at the numbers of students leaving Dartmouth High School in combination with their postal codes

“A very large part of Dartmouth north had, on average, what appeared to be a non-graduation rate of around 40 per cent,” said consultant Dennis Pilkey. 

“Our kids don’t dream,” said Harbour View parent Roseanna Cleveland. “Our kids don’t dream about being lawyers, doctors, firemen, anything like that.”

Halifax school board spokesman Doug Hadley said Nova Scotia doesn’t track dropout rates, but does study how many students who enrol in Grade 12 graduate.

“It doesn’t capture all of those students who don’t make it to Grade 12,” he said

“[We’re] starting to look at youngest students at Harbour View and John Martin [Junior High] and how we can support them through more focused resources."

Cleveland said that’s a good start.

“I want my kids to succeed,” she said. “I don’t want them in that vicious circle of life that they’re always struggling.”

The new superintendent had his first meeting with Take Action last month and they have another session planned for January.