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’Concerned Black Men’ reveal plan

• The first day of class in Dougherty County schools in Wednesday.

Susan McCord

ALBANY — A new group called Concerned Black Men of Albany says it plans to address the plight of African-American boys in Dougherty County public schools through programs under development at two elementary schools.

“We want to work collaboratively, and in a proactive way, to help load the dice in favor of students who have been more prone to fail and to otherwise fall victim to crimes when they’re older or commit crimes,” said retired Dougherty superintendent of schools John Culbreath, speaking for the group at a news conference called to announce the programs.

Member John Hayes, a Dougherty County commissioner, said the group’s plans began forming several months ago out of concern “about the plight of your young men.

“While we are all generally concerned about all our students, our emphasis has been on black boys because as we look at test scores, as we look at graduation rates, as we look at the crime and violence that plagues that particular group in our community, we have engaged in conversation about how to do that,” Hayes said.

The group will begin by working with boys in two schools that already divide some of their classes by gender: Kindergarteners through third-graders at Alice Coachman Elementary and grades 4-5 at Magnolia Elementary, Culbreath said.

“We want to see if we can work with the schools, with the principals and with the superintendent and her staff to help provide wholesome activities, academic tutoring, mentoring, cultural development, social behavior development and healthful living and to see if we can’t make a difference in the lives of these young people that will affect all the young people in our community,” Culbreath said.

“I couldn’t have said it better,” said Hayes, who also attended the conference, along with District Attorney-elect Greg Edwards, the Rev. Theodus Drake and other local male officials.

The program needed to be painted “with a wide brush,” Edwards added.

Alice Coachman and Magnolia elementary schools are among Dougherty County’s better-performing schools, according to Georgia’s requirements under federal No Child Left Behind mandates.

The two schools were joined by International Studies Charter, Lake Park, Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., New Jackson Heights, Northside, Radium Springs and West Town elementary schools in making adequate yearly progress during the 2007-08 school year.

Three other Dougherty elementary schools — Live Oak, Sylvester Road and Turner Elementary — did not make adequate yearly progress, based on standardized test scores and other factors, last year.

The overall graduation rate for Dougherty students was 61.5 percent last year, but the rate varied among the county’s four high schools, according to data released by the Georgia Department of Education.

The graduation rate — the percentage of students who graduate with a regular diploma in four years — at Dougherty High School was 47.6 percent; at Albany High School, 52.5 percent; at Monroe High School, 66 percent and at Westover High School, 77.7 percent.

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