Dateline: October 12, 2006

PEAK program would pay tuition, fees at CC

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Efforts are underway to launch a program that would give every student in Donley County paid access to a college education.

Clarendon and Hedley schools are working with Clarendon College on the PEAK (Promoting Education, Achievement, and Knowledge) Scholarship plan, and the two schools are preparing to raise money to fund the program.

“We need to raise $1.5 to $2 million over the next five years to make it happen,” said Clarendon Superintendent Monty Hysinger. “Right now we just need one big contribution from an individual or foundation to really get it kick started.”

Work originally began on the PEAK program several months ago when Hysinger learned of similar plans benefiting students of Caprock, Palo Duro, and Dumas high schools.

“I thought about our students and how we have Clarendon College right here in our back pocket,” Hysinger said. “I wondered why we didn’t do something to get more of our students to go through our college.”

Hysinger met with CC President Myles Shelton, and the two of them began laying the groundwork for the plan, which has since been expanded to include Hedley schools to potentially attract more grant money for the program.

“It’s a great program,” Hedley Superintendent Bryan Hill said. “I know it’s hard for a kid to see that far down the road sometimes, but this gives them the goal that there is something they can attain if they work hard.”

Shelton is also enthusiastic about the program, which could bring more students to Clarendon College.

“I think it will be a great opportunity for students in Donley County if we can get it done, and I think we can,” Shelton said. “It will be a real financial relief to parents.”

Clarendon ISD is committed to raising $14,000 per year to the PEAK fund with the high school raising $4,000, the junior high raising, $4,000, and the elementary, which has more students, raising $6,000.

With a fundraising letter to local businesses and the development of the Bronco Wall at Fifth and Sims streets, CHS has already raised $1,500 in the last few weeks. Alumni or Bronco supporters can buy an inscribed brick for $64, and $50 of that goes to the PEAK fund.

Clarendon ISD also has already put in place a program to use state incentive money to pay for concurrent college classes for high school students.

Hedley is committed to raising $6,000 per year for the PEAK plan, but school officials are still working out how to achieve that goal.

“We’re going to brainstorm about that at our next board meeting,” Hill said.

Hysinger said the first students who could take advantage of the PEAK plan would be this year’s eighth graders. Details of the plan are still being worked out, but Hysinger said the idea is as follows. PEAK would pay for tuition and fees through an Associate’s Degree or equivalent certification at Clarendon College.

Guidelines will include a requirement that the student spend all four years at Clarendon or Hedley  high school (one or the other but no transferring between the two). The student must be a resident of either the Clarendon or Hedley school district, a GPA of 80 or better will be required, and the student can have no major disciplinary actions on his record.

Students will also have to apply for all financial aid that they are eligible for.

“The program will always be ‘last money in,’” Hysinger said. “We want the kids to get all the grants and scholarships they can, and then we’ll make up the difference on tuition and fees. That way the money will go further.”

Hysinger said a part-time employee will probably have to be hired to run the program, but he reiterated the “tremendous opportunity for parents and kids” that PEAK represents.

Shelton said tuition and fees for 15 semester hours and one lab course at CC costs $1,065. The same coursework at West Texas A&M University costs $2,257, and that figure reaches $3,478.75 at Texas Tech University.

“The real challenge will be to raise the money (for PEAK) and sustain it over a long period of time,” Shelton said. “You have to do it so that kids in elementary school and their parents know that the money will be there for them.”

Hysinger said if the schools can’t reach their goal of $1.5 million or $2 million, the effort is still worthwhile.

“Even if we don’t realize the dream, we’ve still raised money for scholarships,” Hysinger said. “Raising $20,000 per year is still a lot of money available for kids in Donley County.”

For more information or to contribute to the PEAK fund, contact Monty Hysinger at 874-2062.