Jeanette A. Alston: District 2 attendance supervisor

Jeanette A. Alston isn't in the classroom, but parents and children are directly affected by what she does.

Alston is Sumter School District 2's attendance supervisor and McKinney-Vento homeless coordinator.

A Mayesville native who lives in Sumter, Alston has been the attendance supervisor for 27 of the 35 years she has worked in District 2.

She works with parents who are new to the district or who want to discuss where their children go to school. She also strives to help families who have difficult situations, such as living with extended family in the same home, moving frequently or staying in motels, hotels, shelters, vehicles or other temporary places, to get the best education they can for their children.

"All children are important, educating children takes everyone!" Alston says on her district-run Web page.

Alston, 60, graduated from the former Eastern High School and received a bachelor's degree in business administration with a minor in sociology from Voorhees College in Denmark, S.C., in 1972.

She is the oldest of 12 children. She is married to Kenzie Alston Sr. and is the mother of three children: Zelda LaFaye, 40; Quanda Alston, 29; and Kenzie Alston Jr., 27.

Alston began working as a substitute teacher in District 2 in 1973, then took on a district office position the following year. She became attendance supervisor in 1982 and hasn't looked back. Superintendent Dr. Frank Baker added the homeless coordinator responsibilities seven years ago.

1) WHY HAVE YOU STAYED SO LONG AS ATTENDANCE SUPERVISOR?
I enjoy helping people. If I can do anything to assist them, I will. I let children know that school is their job now. You need to do all you can now, and you will reap the benefits later. If you do all you can now to achieve, you will be successful in the future.

2) IN YOUR POSITION, HOW DO YOU HELP STUDENTS?
When families come to town, they don't know their attendance zone. We sit down and discuss how many children they have and what schools are in their zone. We have to make sure all students are properly identified and accounted for. I do audits for all of our 15 schools each year to assure that all of our students are accounted for.

3) DESCRIBE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR
homeless students.

That's enormous, at times overwhelming. The state (Department of Education) has assigned a McKinney-Vento (the federal law that requires school districts to provide adequate education for homeless students) homeless state coordinator. I work with that state coordinator. We meet on a monthly basis. ... Last year, we had more than 500 students (in District 2) identified as homeless. This year, there are 441 students we serve currently. ... I try to provide assistance to take them to the county agencies for housing. Those who don't have transportation — we are a rural district, so that's critical — will call, and we will transport them to various agencies for assistance. ...

When Dr. Baker first gave that (homeless coordinator responsibility) to me, I said we didn't have any homeless people in Sumter. But once I learned that we did, I was eager to to help them change their circumstances. So I tried to help them so they would be able to cope with their life circumstances. ... I was overwhelmed. I wanted to actually do something to touch their lives. If they do not have the ability to pay their electric bill, we help in any way we can. We have a great district staff in our community, who really, really care. Even in these tough economic times, when I ask the staff to donate to help a family, there isn't one person who says no.

4) WHAT IS YOUR TOP CHALLENGE?
Not having the funds to adequately help children, youth and families who are in need. ... I think we are doing an outstanding job, but we can do more. In comparison to other school districts, we do exceedingly well. There are a lot of districts who are poorer and more rural than we are, but they always say Sumter 2 is a model. We try to meet the needs of our students. I think we go above and beyond the call of duty.

5) WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR JOB?
We have an illustrious superintendent, Dr. Baker. He is so great. Because I want everyone to excel is because he wants everyone to excel. He pumps me to just go the extra mile and do whatever we can. We can't change their environment, but we do what we can to help them while they're in the schools' environment. ...

We also have something here we call the 'homeless closet' at Mayesville Elementary School. People donate food and clothing, and we take families there when they need it. (On Wednesday afternoon, she took) six children shopping at Jack's Shoe Store on Liberty Street.

As a whole, I really feel good about the program because we have great success.



— Jason Wermers