GREENSBORO, NC – Community leaders in Guilford County have reached an agreement with the Say Yes to Education National organization to fast-track the process of local control and ownership of the entity.
The community will now assume management of the chapter this year, which is approximately two years earlier than originally anticipated.
According to Donnie Turlington, the interim executive director of Say Yes Guilford, under the new agreement, students who graduated from Guilford County Schools high school in Spring 2018 will keep their eligibility for Say Yes Scholarships.
The same would be applicable to Guilford County High School graduates currently attending colleges or universities with Say Yes Scholarships.
The mantle of leadership now falls on Guilford PreK-12, Inc. which is the new nonprofit organization that will implement the Say Yes strategy locally.
"This change was really made based upon what we felt, local was best for our initiative and the students in Guilford County schools," said Mindy Oakley, interim chair of the board of Guilford PreK-12, Inc.
"Say Yes Guilford believes in the four pillars of Say Yes-- availability of scholarships, data-driven decision-making, provision of academic and non-academic supports, and shared governance," added Oakley in a statement sent earlier.
The statement further reads that the agreement would enable the continuation of Say Yes Guilford scholarships and services, intended to ensure that Guilford County young people are suitably positioned to seize available opportunities.
It will also enable qualifying students graduating from Guilford County Schools through Spring 2023 to have access to Say Yes Scholarships from the more than 100 private colleges and universities in the Say Yes National Higher Education Compact.
"The changes will come in the services, there has always been the promise of academic and non-academic support in the schools and that has been slower to implement and this change is really to help accelerate that timeline so we can get more services in the schools."
Say Yes Guilford scholarship fund raised $40 million in its first two years. About $7.1 million went out in tuition payments to more than 3,000 students in 2016 and 2017 while 2018 awards will be announced in the fall.
"Going to college, it's helped me tremendously, helped me to be able to live on campus," said Madison Powers, a junior attending Greensboro College. She was among the first batch of Say Yes Guilford scholarship recipients.
"I was able to take out minimal loans and when I graduate I will have less than $25,000 worth of loans which is less than a year's worth of tuition here at Greensboro College," added Powers. She has spent her life in Guilford County and the choice to be able to stay close to home and remain engaged in her community was very important to her. That's why she welcomed news that the sponsor of her academic career was headed in a localized direction with their management.
"When you are on a national level you don't know what is going on in Greensboro. If you have the organization based in Greensboro you are able to take that information and apply it directly to the children who need it," said Powers.
The transition process and consultations with local stakeholders have just started. The new managers plan to oversee support services like tutoring and mental health clinics among others where they are unavailable. Those are services they said they couldn't adequately provide under national management.
According to the statement from Say Yes, rules governing the awarding of Say Yes Guilford scholarships to North Carolina public colleges and universities will remain at the discretion of Guilford Says Yes to Education, an independent 501(c)(3) which is not an affiliate entity of Say Yes to Education, Inc.
Raising money for the local scholarship fund remains the responsibility of the local community and local donors. The local community chapter will continue to be known as Say Yes Guilford until at least June 30, 2023, as long as the community adheres to the terms of the agreement.
Guilford Education Alliance will serve as the interim fiscal agent for administrative services under the agreement, while the chapter will be managed by the board of Guilford PreK-12, Inc., a new nonprofit organization consisting of local education, government, business and philanthropic leaders.
The Say Yes National organization will provide financial support for the hiring of a local scholarship coordinator and for scholarship administration for the next five years.