To the Charlotte School Board
Letter from Joyce Wallace

As you know, I am acutely aware of the challenges every board member faces during budget season. I can imagine that it must be particularly difficult in an economic recession. It is not easy to extract water from a stone.
With that acknowledgement, I am concerned about the possibility of the mentoring program being cut out of the proposed budget. My understanding is that it is a tiny fraction of the overall budget; $7,500 for mentoring and SAP services combined.
I was a mentor at CCS for five years. I have watched the program develop and improve since it’s inception in 2003. I know firsthand the positive impact mentoring has on mentees, mentors, parents and the entire school community. Students, who for whatever reason, are in need of extra help in school or in life, benefit immensely from an objective, loyal friend who they can count on for support. A weekly visit by a caring, involved volunteer mentor can be the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful educational experience for these students. Mentoring has proven to be an effective method of helping students perform better academically, making them more confident around peers and less vulnerable to risky behavior. This results in less of a financial burden to the school community in that these students are less likely to require expensive interventions in the future. A simple cost benefit analysis clearly shows the value of a program that is funded primarily through grants (80%), has a retention rate of 90% among mentors and mentees alike and is one of the least expensive, most effective programs in terms of student outcomes. It is, perhaps uniquely, one budget item that is good for the student and taxpayer alike. Simply put, it’s a good deal.
Lets not look a gift-horse in the mouth. Please keep the mentoring program alive at CCS!

Respectfully submitted,
Joyce Wallace