The San Mateo Office of Education is working to expand online learning for incarcerated youth in court schools, according to a response letter to the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury.
The grand jury investigated services for jailed youth and concluded the Office of Education should ensure that credits obtained by juveniles in the program should be counted toward graduation and that online education should be a greater priority.
The report, “Is the San Mateo County Office of Education adequately educating its incarcerated youth?” was released Wednesday and recommends that more collaboration is needed between the Office of Education, the Probation Department and Behavioral Health and Recovery Services to develop a more comprehensive transition plan to ensure contact is made with a student’s family and school before the student is released from detention.
The report also expresses concern about the process by which students transition back into the community.
The county Office of Education agrees that students should be placed in school as quickly as possible after their release and will continue to work with Probation, Behavioral Health, partner school districts and parents to ensure that this process happens in a timely and effective manner.
“All the key stakeholders are working very hard to develop a more effective system to support students as they transition back to their home schools,” Associate Superintendent of Student Services Nancy Magee wrote in a statement. “We anticipate a more comprehensive process will be in place soon.”
As far as computer learning goes, the Office of Education replied that Internet connectivity has been a challenge because of the rural settings in which youth are housed.
“There are challenges specific to educating incarcerated youth, including the length of incarceration and varying academic skills, and online programs provide a terrific way for students to be more self-directed in their learning,” Magee wrote in the response letter.
Access to these programs requires a high level of connectivity, which has historically been a challenge for more rural locations, such as Camp Glenwood. However, the Office of Education recently received a Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant (BIIG), which will provide more rapid and reliable connectivity for students at Camp Glenwood, where boys are housed in La Honda.
Education is provided during three year-round programs at the Youth Services Center in San Mateo, Margaret J. Kemp Girls Camp in San Mateo and Camp Glenwood Boys Ranch.
Daily Journal Staff Report
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