Since the superintendent proposed to use JumpStart to alleviate the high School overcrowding problem in his 2018 HCPSS School Redistricting proposal (https://chaowu.org/2017/10/03/hcpss-superintendent-redistricting-proposal/), more details were discussed. The following is shared from somebody who attended Thursday night’s BOE meeting.

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Many details about the JumpStart Program has been shared by the HCPSS staff at the BOE work session yesterday. Here is my quick summary FYI:

1. Tuition will be about 50% off the regular Howard County Community College (HCC) tuition rate at about $100 per credit on average. Cheaper if courses are offered at HCPSS and more expensive if on HCC campus.

2. 60 credits will cost a student/family $6,000 and 30 credits $3,000. 60 credits is sufficient for a 2-year HCC Associate degree.

3. FARMs students can take early college credit courses in the JumpStart Program for free. This is paid for by HCPSS.

4. Total JumpStart Program cost for HCPSS is about $1 million per year. About 1/3 of that go to tuition waiver for FARMs students in the program and 2/3 go to transportation and other small items.

5. Admission process will ensure equal opportunity to high achievers, middle of the pack and low achievers.

6. The Program focuses on providing career paths to high school students with many career paths to choose from.

7. Students can start the program at the beginning of the 9th grade or later.

8. No impact on students who choose not to enroll in JumpStart and no impact on school staffing other than what HCPSS already does every year for staff rotation based on enrollment changes among HS.

9. HCPSS has been briefing the five schools involved and the parents and school staff, and has received much positive feedback. BOE asked for a survey to gauge how much capacity relief the Program can bring to HHS, LRHS and CHS. There is more than 350 combined receiving capacity at RHHS and OMHS, if there are more than 350 interested students in this rosy scenario.