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Diplomas behind bars offer students second chance
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Five Keys Charter School students Joshua De Leon, Lynniecea Bradley and Robert Bolden, from left, prepare to walk into their graduation ceremony held at the Hall of Justice on Tuesday.
SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - A pioneering charter high school for adults housed within San Francisco County jails won approval this week to triple its size, a move that could bolster its ability to graduate inmates and reduce rates of recidivism.
Five Keys Charter High School, founded in 2003, was the first charter high school in the United States to open its doors within a jail.
Since then, a handful have opened across the country, including schools in Albuquerque, N.M., Eau Claire, Wis., and Raleigh, N.C., the latter of which was shut down in 2006.
Although Five Keys enrolls more than 200 inmate and parolee students of all ages per year, it could only accept 20 to 25 in independent study — a problem when county jails lack classroom space and many inmates must be kept separate due to gang affiliations, according to Sheriff Michael Hennessy.
“When you have the Hall of Justice Jail with 800 prisoners and no classrooms, it’s tough to do anything but independent study,” Hennessy said.
In June, the San Francisco Board of Education approved two new charters for Five Keys, including space for up to 60 independent-study students as well as making room for a new high school and an adult school for former inmates who need help acquiring job skills — and jobs. Classes or independent study will be offered in most jail facilities, including two in San Bruno.
Although more than half of county jails offer some kind of high school equivalency program, almost none are certified by the California Department of Education — meaning students must meet state graduation standards and pass the California High School Exit Exam to graduate.
Five Keys’ waiting list has at least 180 inmates on it, Hennessy said.
“We have people who have failed time and time again in school,” said Steve Good, Five Keys’ executive director. “They’re clean and sober, and they have time on their hands — so if they’re not [in class], or participating in another program, they’re busy becoming better criminals.”
Statistics show that inmates who obtain a high school diploma while incarcerated or shortly after they're released are 20 percent less likely to be arrested again, according to Hennessy.
Former inmate Lenita Lloyd graduated this week after two years in Five Keys. She enrolled shortly after being convicted of first-degree burglary in August 2006 and sentenced to the women’s jail.
Lloyd left high school at 16 in favor of a job and an apartment of her own. “This time, I was more serious about school, more motivated,” Lloyd said. “I’m the first in my family to graduate high school.”
Inmates and education by the numbers
2,244: Inmates in county jails
55 percent: Recidivism rate
NATIONWIDE
47: Percent of county-jail inmates who have not completed high school
18: Percent of U.S. general population that has not completed high school
26: Percent of state-prison inmates who complete the General Educational Development test while incarcerated
77: Percent of inmates without a diploma or GED who have been arrested more than once
71: Percent of inmates with a diploma who have been arrested more than once
66: Percent of inmates with some college education who have been arrested more than once
Sources: San Francisco County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Bureau of Justice
Comments from Examiner Readers
9:30 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chu pushes for overhaul of assignment system"
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Examiner Reader said:
Lowell is in District 7, not District 4. Chu is calling for "legislation" to change SFUSD's enrollment process to factor in where you live as part of the process, but Chu doesn't even know that SFUSD already factors in address in the assignment process. Carmen Chu should read what the assignment system entails before trying to stir up angry parents in order to get elected to the seat she was appointed to by Newsom.
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Eric said:
This article dosen't surprise me, In King George County this last year after the SOL's the sixth grade math teacher said she didn't want to teach anymore and she didn't. It was movies and goof off for a several more weeks until school was out. In fact I can't even figure out what the sixth graders did to get grades the last few weeks of school after the SOL tests. Because I saw no homework or school work.
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Adam said:
It's good to see that in times like these, people can put it together. It is a travesty that public schools have to turn to private enterprise just to keep up with where they are supposed to be with our tax dollars to begin with. It really warms the heart to hear how people who care are standing up for the future of mankind.
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Examiner Reader said:
We see lots of cuts in education but what about California prisons? Are they laying off any prison guards? Let's see lack of education means less people qualified to find good jobs means more criminals means more prison guards.
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Carson said:
If the Revolutionaries in the government would have respected the will of, "We the People" and enacted Proposition 187 we may have avoided these problems.
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Examiner Reader said:
Student truancy is not always caused by the parents/family. Our family is not near homeless, not divorced or any other social reasons that may be common. My daughter began skipping her classes and when I found out and asked her why, she said "because it doesn't matter to anyone at school." She did it because it was easy and she wasn't being called on it. Since then, her school has a new attendance/tardy policy and whenever a student misses even one class, an automated system calls home and leaves a message to that fact. After coming home 3 days in a row and hearing that she was being reported, she realized that someone did care and that it was no longer going to be "easy" to get away with. During the past 3 weeks we have not had 1 call. While in some cases the family life may be the problem, the school administrators need to have procedures in place to combat the problem as well. I'm sure glad my daughter's school did!
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Examiner Reader said:
I know Zach! I went to Shiloh, and I graduated along with him. I hope he and everyone else are doing well at North Carroll. The best of luck to him, and his future!
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Examiner Reader said:
People of different relegious beliefs should watch PEACE channel where Dr.Zakir Naik refers from holy books of Christians,Jews,Muslims & Hindus for guidance on such issues
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