Buffalo, NY – Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard and Dr. Kriner Cash, Buffalo Public Schools’ superintendent, announced today the collaborative effort between the two entities resulted in thirty-five individuals either earning their high school diploma or were transitioned into area high schools where they successfully completed courses and earned a diploma.

In the 2014-2015 school year, thirty-five students earned a high school diploma.  Of those thirty-five students, four achieved their diplomas while incarcerated in the Erie County Holding Center.  Especially rewarding for everyone involved, a student enrolled in the program recently received a Say Yes scholarship, and is currently a freshman at a local 4-year college.

The high school program inside the Erie County Holding Center is a collaborative effort by the Sheriff's Office, the Buffalo Public Schools’ Adult Education division, and the Buffalo Schools Title 1 department.  The program established a public high school within the holding center to allow inmates to continue or complete courses necessary to earn a high school diploma.

Although the high school diploma is the main focus of the programming for minors, there is an alternate path for students who are over-age and under-credited.  In the High School Equivalency (formerly called GED) program, 32 students moved up 1-2 grade levels of math and reading proficiency while spending less than one year at the Erie County Holding Center.

Developed three years ago, Lester Leopold, Director of Adult Education, and Jaime Cohen, Director of Title 1, worked with holding center command staff to establish a high school in the Erie County Holding Center.  In the program, students receive core high school subject instruction, special education services, guidance counseling, Title I math and reading services, and summer programming.  As soon as students enter the program, they begin to plan for post-release and Title I Transition Counselors meet with each student to establish an educational plan for the entire time they spend at the holding center, as well as a plan for when they are released.  Participating students leave the Erie County Holding Center with an education, links to specialized services, and a plan for the future.  The days when incarceration was an end to education are no longer the reality for many students.