A State Department of Education grant from the office of special education will provide Suttons Bay Schools with $15,000 to help staff interpret data and help struggling students.

The district will receive $5,000 in each year of the 3-year grant, beginning in 2008, according to high school principal Raph Rittenhouse.

“It’s not just for special education students,” Rittenhouse explained. “It’s a new approach to student retention.”

An examination of student progress in the district last fall indicated there is a disproportionate number of special education students compared to general student population.

“It will combined in the school improvement process and will be used to survey student aspirations and make programing decisions to match these goals,” Rittenhouse said.

Grant funds will also be used to “intervene” in situations where a student may not be able to graduate with his class.

“They may not have received a passing grade in algebra, but there are certain concepts they remember,” Rittenhouse said. “We’ll base our material on the area they were not able to grasp, rather than require they complete the entire class again.”

Students will cover those modules and take an online examination to determine whether they’ve mastered all concepts, which are aligned with state curriculum benchmarks.

“Most kids don’t want to be a fifth-year senior. This will be huge retention tool and will be attractive to kids who might otherwise say, ‘I quit’,” he said.