Superintendent Lonny Lemon told the Quincy Human Rights Commission he believes the Quincy School District is making progress in dealing with the problems specific to minority students.

Lemon's remarks came Wednesday night at City Hall during the commission's regular monthly meeting. Also representing the schools were Board President Melvin "Bud" Niekamp and Vice President Tom Dickerson.

"We knew we were not doing well enough in this area," said Lemon, who outlined how the district created a task force in October 2008 to develop an "action plan."

Higher dropout rates among minorities, especially African-American students, was the main focus of the back-and-forth involving Lemon, Dickerson and members of the commission, which is chaired by Dennis Williams.

Niekamp was 45 minutes late to the meeting because he was at another meeting. He did not speak during the remainder of the two-hour meeting until Williams thanked him for his attendance at the end. Phone messages left at Niekamp's home Thursday night were not returned.

Lemon said an emphasis on more diversity in school textbooks was one goal that is being instituted, along with striving to "make a connection" with minorities and students from lower socio-economic backgrounds at an earlier age. Roughly 8 percent of the district's 6,800 kids qualify as a minority.

"We are keenly aware that at the junior high level is where we start to lose the lower socio-economic kids," Lemon said. "We need a transition outside the school to the families (of those kids). There has to be a connection ... and we know it has to involve people of color."

Lemon said the district has been working with minority students at Quincy University to serve as go-between, role-model types of figures who will interact with minority kids in all grades.

"Right now we have 15 QU students who will be part of this program next fall, and we'd like to get as many as 30 -- that would be a good start," he said. "We will also be working with John Wood Community College."

Dickerson said budget and personnel cuts, plus other financial concerns of the city schools, are adding pressure on the district to make certain it has the best-possible roster of teachers.

"We know the budget will get worse before it gets better," he said. "We will have to do more with less. We have to be able to equip our teachers with everything we can. We have to do everything we can to get the most out of the money we have."

Lemon also told the commission that a concerted effort is under way to make sure more minority students are involved next school year in the district's TAG program for "talented and gifted" students.

Williams told Lemon, Dickerson and Niekamp he believes the various committees that help dictate programs and policies have a greater need for minority representation.

"You need to get a different perspective," Williams said.

"We admit we have problems, and we are trying our very best to correct them," Lemon said.

—seighinger@whig.com/221-3377