Advocacy Project: Letter

to State Senators
KAVITA RAMOUTAR
 Advocacy for Purnell Swett High school

Under the North Carolina Board of Education Policies, Dropout Prevention

and Students At-Risk Program aids to increase services for at-risk students
and reduce the number of drop-outs.
1. At-risk students include are suspended and/or expelled, are at risk of
participation in juvenile crime, have dropped out and desire to return to school,
have a history of truancy, are returning from juvenile justice settings or psychiatric
hospitals, or have learning styles that are better served in an alternative setting.

Purnell Swett High School actively uses Learning Alternative Programs for
students who cannot obtain a high school diploma in a regular school
setting.
Dear Senators Tillis and Senator Burr

My name is Kavita Ramoutar a BSW student at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Currently, I am interning with the local high school Purnell Swett and would like to advocate for

the drop-out prevention and students at risk program (DROP-001, SB 43). This policy states

Alternative Learning Programs are defined as services for students at risk of truancy, academic

Letter to
failure, behavior problems, and/or dropping out of school. These services should be designed to

better meet the needs of students who have not been successful in the regular public-school

setting. (Dropout Prevention and Students At-Risk Program, 2017). Many students at Purnell

Swett High School are considered at-risk and depend on alternative learning programs to achieve

academic success. During my experience at Purnell Swett High School, I personally witnessed State
Senators
at-risk students expressing the desire to participate in alternative learning programs so they can

graduate with their class and receive a high school diploma. Furthermore, at the core these at-risk

students have the same goal of obtaining high school diploma that most of us did as a teenager.

Although at-risk students have a difficult time learning in the same setting as the rest of the

student body, they still deserve a chance to achieve academic success in high school. The

alternative learning programs has significant value in Robeson county and I advocate for the

continuation and possible expansion of alternative learning programs in this county. Thank you

for your representation and dedication to the needs of all North Carolinians.

Sincerely,

Kavita Ramoutar
 References

Dropout Prevention and Students At-Risk Program. (2017, August 03). Retrieved September
15, 2017, from https://stateboard.ncpublicschools.gov/policy-
manual/dropouts/copy_of_dropout-prevention-and-students-at-risk