Adult education program needs a boost

By Roberta Stauffer - 11/08/2008

Maybe people just don't have time anymore. Maybe high gas costs are keeping them home. Maybe they don't like the class offerings or times. Maybe they have no idea the program exists.

Whatever the reason, the Butte School District's adult education program is in decline, and that's a shame. Programs like these are nice community builders, providing healthy social outlets and opportunities for lifelong learning, minus the report cards.

Thirteen classes were cancelled this fall due to lack of enrollment, and classes are now offered only two nights a week. Program administrator Kathy Cannon remembers back 10 years ago when classes were going strong four nights a week.

"Hundreds of students took classes," she said. "There were eight to a dozen classes every night and every single one of them was full. We had to put limits on registrations because they would be so large." Six years ago, class fees collected totaled nearly $27,000; this year, that amount will be closer to $11,000, if enrollment for the January session is as lackluster as this fall run.

"When we compare ourselves to other AA districts, they just have so many more classes to offer," Cannon said. "We need to figure out what our folks in the community want, and we need to be proactive and try to move the program forward." The school district has assembled a committee to study the problem, and Cannon e-mailed The Standard a copy of a one-page survey devised to help get some answers.

But the survey looks as if it, too, needs a major overhaul if results are to be truly helpful. It seems mainly geared to people already enrolled, with questions such as "Is the class time convenient?" "Is the program location convenient?" "Do you find the materials interesting?" While surveying current students is a good idea, we'd suggest looking to successful programs elsewhere for inspiration for a broad-based community survey. Find out the most popular class topics — and class times and durations — in other Montana cities and then put them out there for Silver Bow County residents to react to. It's hard for people to provide concrete suggestions if they can't envision what's possible or don't know what's currently offered.

Then, based on results, the district could set about recruiting teachers to meet the community's expressed interests.

Surveys could be sent home with students for their parents, distributed at the senior center and retirement homes, maybe even inserted into county water bills, in an effort to reach as broad a demographic as possible.

Right now, all classes meet for three hours a week for 10 weeks. That's a pretty major time commitment nowadays. Shorter classes, maybe even shorter sessions, might be the way to go. Cannon said other programs even offer one-shot courses such as how to cook a special dish.

Taxpayers partially fund this program, but only a fraction of the 2 mills set aside for adult education is actually spent on these classes. According to business manager J. R. Richardson, of the $94,517 in the budget, $63,116 goes toward the salary and benefits of a full-time teacher who helps students over 16 prepare for the G.E.D. Another $10,000 goes toward utilities, and last year $6,732 was spent on supervisory fees. Cannon and three other administrators take turns being on site when adult education classes are meeting, and their contract calls for them to be paid $24 an hour for special duty such as this.

In this day and age of instant cell-phone communication, it seems as if an on-site janitor would be adequate after the first week, leaving more money to go toward paying instructors to teach. As it stands, only about $14,500 in the budget goes toward the classes themselves.

Cannon said Butte's program is the only one in the state that waives fees for senior citizens, and that is a nice thank-you for all their years of supporting the schools. They still pay materials fees, but every little bit helps for those on fixed incomes. We hope that practice can be continued, and we wish the district success in their efforts to resuscitate this program.

It's one of those nebulous quality-of-life issues that could even impact future economic development. A vibrant, well- managed education system — at all levels — is a worthy goal indeed.