An upcoming education summit will serve as launching pad for the development of a multiyear community action plan that will outline how to accelerate efforts to raise high school graduation rates in Baton Rouge.
The Baton Rouge GradNation Community Summit, announced today by MetroMorphosis and the Urban Congress, will focus specifically on black males.
In Louisiana, 53.1% of black male students typically graduate from high school while only 44% of black male students living in Baton Rouge usually earn their high school degree, MetroMorphosis says in a news release.
“The economic and overall well-being of Baton Rouge is at risk unless we come together to support our children and youth better,” says MetroMorphosis CEO Raymond Jetson in a statement. “This summit is a great opportunity to do that and put together a plan that builds on and strengthens what we are already doing so we can serve more children and families and increase our graduation rate.”
During the summit, students, parents, community officials, business leaders and educators are expected to come together to examine local data and to identify what’s working and where challenges remain in efforts to improve outcomes for black males in and out of school.
The summit, which is co-sponsored by the America’s Promise Alliance as part of its GradNation campaign, is among 100 similar events that have been held around the country. The GradNation campaign aims to increase the national high school graduation rate to 90% by 2020.
Nationally, the graduation rate was 83.2% in 2015 and 82.3% in 2014.
“The progress we are seeing toward the national goal of raising graduation rates is based on communities coming together to support and insist on better outcomes for young people,” says John Gomperts, president and CEO of America’s Promise Alliance, in a statement. “Summits like the event in Baton Rouge are rallying points for communities.”
The Baton Rouge GradNation Community Summit will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 29 in the Magnolia Theatre at Baton Rouge Community College.
