Up until last month, Gloria Rockhold had reason to think she would be one of those county employees whose positions were terminated due to budget cuts.
“[Gloria’s] position was what’s called a centralized position,” School Board member Diantha McKeel said in early March. “Between last year and this year, we have actually eliminated 22 centralized positions.” The School Board had to come up with $2 million to lessen the funding request for the next fiscal year, in addition to having already cut $3 million, said McKeel. And among those cut would be Rockhold, the county’s sole Coordinator of the Latino Center and Community Relations. She was slated to lose her job on June 30, but at the eleventh hour, the county changed its mind.
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Gloria Rockhold, who was raised in Paraguay, created the Southwood Study Club. On average, between 10 and 15 students attend the club, whose purpose is to provide tutoring core classes. |
“You can’t nickel and dime those kinds of dollars,” said McKeel. “Albemarle County has had a really strong commitment to reach out to our Hispanic community. We really have.”
Rockhold is currently charged with engaging the Latino population. She assists with the integration of Latino families into the community and has helped create programs for students at risk of dropping out of high school.
Rockhold is also a presence in the Hispanic community in many other ways. Tim Freilich, legal director for Legal Aid’s Immigrant Advocacy Program, who has worked with Rockhold, commented that at a time when the area’s immigrant population is increasing, the county should not be cutting resources. “I think it’s very important that the liaison position be maintained,” he says. “This is an area that does not dedicate a significant amount of resources to ensuring the smooth assimilation of our immigrant communities into the larger Charlottesville-Albemarle community, and we definitely need to maintain and increase the supports that we are offering to the families that have come into this area.”
According to the 2006 Census, the Latino population in Albemarle County has reached 3.7 percent, or 3,405.
As of last week, the county seemed to have seen the light. The School Board has reinstated Rockhold’s position and it is considering making it full-time.
“The School Board identified that position as requiring some special skills and knowledge of the Hispanic, Latino community,” said School Board member-at-large Brian Wheeler last week. “And it was something we had felt strongly about in the past, enough to at least invest a half-time position. There are some concerns that it was not going to be easily absorbed by another employee in their work.”
Wheeler says at a board meeting in April, the matter was set aside because “there was not consensus by the board at that time to do anything more than half a position. Just restore that,” he says. Since then, “I think some board members have thought more deeply about that work,” says Wheeler.
Rockhold has big dreams and an even bigger personality. “I love Gloria,” says a 7-year-old student at Cale Elementary who attends “Southwood Study Group,” a program that provides tutoring in core classes and test-taking skills. The program, created by Rockhold among others, is also intended to help students at risk for academic failure, specifically students from low-income families and from Hispanic and Latino families who are not familiar with the English language.
“I come every week to study with her,” says the student, whose parents are from Mexico. She is one of many children who live in Southwood Mobile Park who spend afternoons in the conference room of the Habitat for Humanity.
“Jose, que estas haciendo?” Rockhold asks an active middle schooler. “Focus!” Rockhold is strict just as she is friendly. “Stop jumping around and do your homework!” she tells Jose. On average, between 10 and 15 students attend the program consistently.
A shy boy carrying a notebook comes silently in the room. “What’s your name?” asks Rockhold. “Do you need help with your homework?” Jose Alberto nods and sits next to her.
“All those who come to tutor the kids are volunteers,” says Rockhold. “We are like a little family.” UVA students, teachers in the county school system and community members want to “lend a hand.” The Club, as Rockhold calls it, is so much more than just tutoring. “I went back to thinking how I grew up,” says Rockhold, who was raised in Paraguay. “My friends and I would get together and study. We would study for exams, we would study for papers. Part of our social network was studying, and what I am trying to accomplish in this neighborhood is for [the kids] to come and realize how much fun it is to study. It’s like this huge exchange of information and brain activity.”
Most of Rockhold’s efforts are geared toward lowering the Hispanic dropout rate in county schools. According to the Virginia Board of Education, the Latino dropout rate at Monticello High School is 20 percent. At Albemarle High School it’s 30 percent.
“The Hispanic rate looks much higher because there are only 34 Hispanic students in this group,” writes Maury Brown, communications coordinator for county schools, in an e-mail. “Because there are so few students, each student who drops out counts for about 3 percent of the total.” According to Brown, about 76 percent of those students graduated on time, and seven students, or 20.6 percent dropped out.
“Our Hispanic dropout rate is very similar to the state’s dropout rate for Hispanic students (state is almost 20 percent while we are at 20.6 percent),” said Brown. “But our on-time graduation rate for our Hispanic students is much better than the state average (ours is 76.5 percent vs. their 71.5 percent).”
The high Hispanic dropout rate is a statewide problem, said Brown, comparing the Hispanic dropout rate is 24.3 percent in Alexandria, Fairfax 22.1 percent, and Fredericksburg 30 percent. Albemarle County has many programs that are geared toward helping those who are at risk of dropping out.
“Unless they are motivated and they come from a culture that values education in such a huge way, I really don’t see how they are going to graduate,” says Rockhold.
The School Board will meet on June 11 to decide whether the position will be made full-time. In the meantime, Rockhold is looking for jobs elsewhere. “I love it here, but if I can’t find anything full-time, I may have to go,” she says.
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