A new school in Bremerton made headlines Aug. 4 when it revamped a program that brought teen and young adult students without degrees back to school to complete their education.

Students from any Kitsap school could enroll, except those from the Bainbridge Island School District — but they won’t miss out. BISD has its own version of the program.

BISD will participate in the “Open Doors” high school dropout recruitment program starting this fall through its regional oversight body, the Puget Sound Education Service District. Pathways to Success, the new school in Bremerton, is part of an equivalent program through the Olympic Education Service District.

“Open Doors” is an alternate pathway to achievement — sometimes a G.E.D., sometimes a high school degree — for students ages 16-21 with “severe credit deficiencies,” explained BISD financial director Kim Knight at the July 31 school board meeting.

Founded in 2011, the statewide program aims to keep students who struggle in the traditional K-12 learning environment on track to gain crucial job and life skills. The program connects students to a range of educational options — technical colleges, skills centers, job corps, online educational options and community organizations — to ascertain the best fit for a student’s success.

By 2016, the program was serving 8,200 students statewide at 93 school districts. As of 2021, the most recent reported data, the program had routed about 41% of students to a GED or degree track.

A case study performed on the 2016-17 “Open Doors” cohort by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction found that students were more likely to be white or Hispanic/latino males between the ages of 17-18; Asian American, Black, Pacific Islander and Native students were disproportionately less likely to be “Open Doors” participants. About half of students qualified for free or reduced Lunch, 6% were homeless and 9% received special education.