Roughly 65 Abraham Lincoln High School students started college Monday on someone else’s dollar – though it’s still unclear exactly whose.
In a Lincoln High program called “College Now,” about 80 students who graduated from the southwest Denver high school this spring were directly enrolled in a higher-education institution under a unique funding plan that intended for the state to pay their tuition.
More than 60 enrolled at Community College of Denver, and another 20 enrolled in the Emily Griffith Opportunity School.
“I’m very excited that the kids got to this day,” said Lincoln principal Scott Mendelsberg. “I know how seriously they’ll take this opportunity.”
But the program, developed by Mendelsberg, is under review by the state Department of Education.
Mendelsberg’s plan was to give the seniors a different kind of diploma and then count them as high schoolers again, thus allowing the school to collect the state’s per pupil funding.
The state attorney general’s office this summer said informally that the program was not permitted. So Denver Public School leaders are working to find a way to fund at least this first class of college freshmen.
“We’re committed to finding funding for it,” said DPS spokeswoman Tanya Caughey.
The district is waiting on the state’s next move and exploring possible private funding to get the students through school, Caughey said.
DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet has met with state education commissioner William Moloney to explore options, which could include legislation to allow the program to continue in some limited capacity, Moloney said.
Staff writer Allison Sherry can be reached at 303-820-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com.
