The district’s superintendent reported that Randolph Public Schools received a $150,000 planning grant to support an Early College initiative designed to expand college access and career pathways for high school students.

The planning grant is intended to enable a "wall-to-wall" model so that every student at the high school could have an opportunity to earn an associate degree before graduation, the superintendent said. The district is working with Quincy College to identify course pathways and with Codman Square (Codman) and Boston Medical on health-care-related certificates such as pharmacy technician and certified nursing assistant (CNA) programming.

The superintendent said Quincy College has agreed to review teacher syllabi and train teachers where needed so high school courses can meet college standards. District staff are discussing possible timelines; the superintendent said some coursework could be piloted this academic year but that most programming would likely begin next year. She also said Codman has already offered pharmacy-tech instruction and connections to Boston Medical for student placements.

District staff named people and units involved in planning: John Licorice (principal of the high school, as mentioned in the meeting), the high school’s career and internship coordinator (Miss Kirellis in the transcript), and Josh Carton of the South Shore Early College Program. The superintendent requested that Josh Carton present to the school committee at a future meeting and said she would explore presenting the initiative to the town council as well to broaden reach.

Committee members asked about transferability of credits, timeline for implementation and whether the grant covered student college costs. The superintendent said the intent is for credits to be college credits (often transferable depending on the receiving institution) and that grant-funded courses would be paid for while students were enrolled in the program; transferability to other institutions will depend on the receiving college’s policies.

Ending

The committee agreed to pursue the planning work with Quincy College and Codman, asked staff to return with a detailed plan and timeline, and said it would schedule presentations for committee members and, if appropriate, the town council.