A great start

Any high school student would feel fortunate to start college with some credits already on his or her ledger.

But Blue Mountain Community College, together with Baker County high schools and Powder Valley High School, can do better than that: Students in those schools can start college with credits but without that nagging detail that clings to most college students:

Debt.

And there’s no charge.

Not for the classes. Not for the books. Not even for the bus that hauls students to BMCC.

During the current school year, 31 students at Baker High School enrolled in BMCC classes for the fall term; that number dropped to 19 for spring term.

Unfortunately, the BMCC partnership might be one of the victims of budget cuts that are plaguing school districts across Oregon.

BHS Principal Jerry Peacock said this month that the Baker School District has set aside $15,000 for the program for the next school year — $5,000 less than for the current year.

The Leo Adler Scholarship Fund has donated $10,000, but that money doesn’t pay books, which cost more than $12,000 during the two years the program has been in place.

We know school districts have money problems. But their cost for the BMCC program seems to us an incredible bargain.

Peggy Hudson, director for BMCC’s Baker Center, said her goal is for local students to graduate from high school with nearly two years of college credits. That’s like getting a full scholarship to a community college — a pretty nice high school graduation gift.