Page 26 - 2025 February report

Site visit report – Bottom Line (2)
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David Blaikie, Lisa Loomis, Alexandria Burns, Emily Broughton, Bobby Krause, James Cosby, Catrina Bailey – Dunbar High School Principal, and Trischelle Estelle-Campbell – Dunbar High School Counselor
They gave us a tour of the office. It is far more than an office really. It is better described as a drop-in center for students and their parents. There are places to study, a games room, and a kitchen. The space is new and shiny, having only recently been built. There is also a storage room with food/snacks for the students who visit, or for the advisors to take to the students who they meet in the schools.
James Cosby underscored how successful the BL program is in other cities. These cities and areas are different than Dayton, he explained. They each have well-developed public transportation systems and are also places where one finds a wealthy donor class. Dayton has neither of these (its population is only 135,000). Without a good transportation system, it is difficult for students to access the office/ drop-in center; and without a wealthy donor class, he worries about the long-term sustainability of the program. He sees a reasonable amount of risk but is hopeful that the success of the Dayton office will prove that the BL program can survive and thrive outside of big metropolitan areas.
We also had the opportunity to visit two high schools where Bottom Line advisors meet with students. In each we met the principal and in one the principal, a superintendent and an advisor. We asked these folks why they were supportive of the program. In their answers they pointed to some of the weaknesses in their school systems which make it difficult and sometimes impossible to provide reliable and continuous support to a student when it comes to helping them think about and prepare for college.
Later, I had a conversation with James Cosby who talked about the same issue. He pointed to the frailties in the school system and the fact that the students that BL targets and serves often fall between the cracks in school.
The Bottom Line program is a proven success in various cities in America. It will probably succeed in Dayton but faces challenges to getting established in a different environment. It strikes me as a lean and simple program: establish a solid trusting relationship with students to guide them in their transition from high school to college and then support them in college.