Academy for dropouts planned in Bremerton wins strong support

OLYMPIA — Washington lawmakers are poised to authorize a boot-camp-style academy in Bremerton for the state's high-school dropouts, a last opportunity for struggling youth to get back on track.

Dubbed the Washington Youth Academy, the military-style proposal is a pet project of the powerful U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, and is embraced by Gov. Christine Gregoire, state School Superintendent Terry Bergeson, the head of the Washington National Guard, Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, and community leaders.

The governor is seeking about $6 million to build and operate the academy, which would serve about 300 dropouts each year — two intensive five-month sessions of 150 youths, drawn from around the state.

About a quarter of the state's ninth-graders fail to finish high school with their classes. One recent count showed 16,000 dropouts each year — the equivalent of a whole town, Lowenberg said.

That has Olympia scrambling for a way to reach kids who have quit or are on the verge of quitting. Gregoire said dropouts typically struggle in their adult lives, and often saddle society with welfare and jail costs.

After scouring the state for possible sites, sponsors selected an 80-acre parcel already owned by the National Guard in Bremerton's West Hills. The property adjacent to Olympic College has armory buildings that include a large new commercial kitchen, portable classroom buildings and other facilities that can be adapted for academy use.

The state's proposal includes a co-ed dormitory and the other improvements.

The academy would be part of a successful national system of boot-camp-style schools operated by National Guards and financed by the federal and state governments, Dicks said.

"We're in 26 states now, with over 70,000 graduates so far," Dicks said. "The great news is that about 95 percent of them are not falling back. They just turn their lives around. This has an amazing impact on people, how it saves people from a life of drugs and prisons and so forth."

Presuming lawmakers approve the idea, something the congressman and governor expect, the plan is to start construction this summer and begin screening applications a year later. The first class would begin in January 2009.

State Rep. Kathy Haigh, D-Shelton, chairwoman of the House Appropriations education subcommittee, included money for the project in her proposed budget.

The dropouts must apply for the openings, and are screened for drugs and criminal history. Twice as many boys as girls are the norm.

The program is free to the student and family. The federal government pays about 60 percent of the cost, including room and board. The state's per-student grant, about $4,000, follows the youth, and the Legislature's appropriation fills the remaining $1,000 gap per student.