32 Offenders Awarded High School Diplomas

Through Partnership with Foothills Regional High School

 FORSYTH, Ga. –  During Fiscal Year 2023 (July 1, 2022- June 30, 2023), 32 young men and women graduated with a high school diploma through a partnership with Foothills Regional High School. The partnership provides opportunities for offenders, under the age of 21, to earn a diploma while incarcerated.

 “Collaborating with educational institutions like Foothills allows the GDC an additional opportunity to set offenders up to be successful upon returning to society,” said Commissioner Tyrone Oliver. “Obtaining educational skills is vital in an offender’s reentry process and gives them valuable tools to become productive in their communities.”  

 This collaborative partnership began in 2015 at Lee Arrendale State Prison and has since expanded to Burruss Correctional Training Center and Phillips State Prison. The program provides offenders with an individualized, self-paced learning environment and delivers coursework that is based on mastery learning facilitated by accredited teachers. Since the program’s inception, 442 offenders within Georgia’s prisons have earned a high school diploma.

About the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC)

The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) has one of the largest prison systems in the U.S. and is responsible for supervising approximately 47,000 state prisoners. It is the largest law enforcement agency in the state with approximately 9,000 employees. For more information on the GDC, call 478-992-5247 or visit http://www.gdc.ga.gov .