GED, other adult ed programs ending at Pima County Jail

GED classes and other adult education services for those being held at the Pima County Jail are set to end at the end of the month.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department notified Pima Community College on March 22 that it will not renew a contract for classes for those held in the Pima County Adult Detention Complex.

The current contract between PCSD and PCC is set to expire on June 30 after a partnership spanning more than three decades.

Sheriff Chris Nanos said the school had asked for $170,000 for the next fiscal year, which he considered excessive for a program that had yielded less than 10 incarcerated GED recipients over the past five years.

He noted that PCC’s regular Adult Basic Education program was free to the public.

“If you’re going to offer the community (classes for free), why are you charging the county $170,000?” he asked.

The decision wasn’t a reflection of the program’s quality, according to Nanos. He added that the average stay for someone held at the jail is less than two weeks, and it would be impossible for someone to go through the entire process of earning their GED within that time frame.

“It really is just us trying to manage our budget,” he said. “It’s a great program for those we have in our custody.”

Kristen Randall, who sits on PCC’s Governing Board, said the program offers general education diploma courses, facilitates GED testing and offers job and employability training.

“We talk abut how education opens doors,” she said. “And this is a really big door.”

She described it as a “pared-down” version of the school’s overall Adult Basic Education program. Randall said the request for $170,000, about a 6.25% increase from the current fiscal year, would provide raises for program staff.

“When it comes to what I think we’re doing, it’s worth every penny,” Randall said. “We have folks who have turned their entire lives around.”

Libby Howell, who oversees PCC’s Community and Government Relations Office, said the program offers more than just a GED. She pointed to data from the national nonprofit, Coalition on Adult Basic Education, which indicates that incarcerated people involved in programs like PCC’s are 43% less likely to experience recidivism.

To earn a GED in Arizona, a person must pass subtests in four different subjects: Reasoning Through Language Arts, Mathematical Reasoning, Science and Social Studies.

Within the past three years, Howell said, 700 people in the jail have opted to participate in the programs and 400 of them have passed in at least one test subject.

Because the average person held at the jail has about a 6th-grade education, it helps participants catch up to the level they need to be at, according to Howell.

And though people held in jail aren’t eligible to continue the program once they’re released, she said, they’re aware of the school’s regular Adult Basic Education program and can resume their studies through that or be referred to the Pima County One-Stop program for more job training.

Randall said it can also fundamentally change the way someone held in the jail views themselves.

“This program gets them skills and gets them ready for careers,” she said. “But I also think this allows them to see themselves as better than their worst days.”

Randall and Howell said they both hoped the adult education program could be salvaged. Nanos said it wasn’t off the table, but he needed to see more evidence of its benefit.

On Thursday, both Nanos and Howell said they expected to meet and discuss the matter further.

“They’re always welcome to call me,” Nanos said. “If they want this contract, they’ve got to show us why.”