Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
High school dropout rates dropped around Oregon, according to the most recent report from the state, but Sweet Home High School’s dropout rate has decreased even further.
The Oregon Department of Education reported on Oct. 4 that the statewide rate decreased from 4.6 percent to 4.2 percent from the 2003-04 school year to the 2004-05 school year. The Sweet Home rate decreased from 4.4 percent to 3.3 percent.
“We’re moving in the right direction, big time,” Sweet Home Superintendent Larry Horton said. “Being almost a full percentage point below the state average is a good thing, but obviously in the past it wasn’t as good as it is now.”
Oregon state law defines a dropout as a student in grades 9-12 who withdraws from school without receiving a high school diploma, GED certificate, modified diploma, or transferring to another school. A total of 7,318 students dropped out of high school during 2004-05, down from 7,864 dropouts in 2003-04.
The most frequently cited reasons for leaving school were “too far behind in credits to catch up,” “lack of parental support for education” and “working more than 15 hours per week.” These reasons have been consistent during the last seven years of reporting, suggesting that these are significant factors that affect a student’s ability to stay in school.
The dropout report was delayed due to changes in how dropout data was reported. This year, schools and districts were required to submit a list with student ID numbers. The change in reporting allows for much greater accuracy — but requires more time to verify.
Sweet Home’s four-year rate declined from 16.8 percent in 2003-04 to 13.5 percent in 2004-05. The four year rate follows each class over a four-year period.
During the same period, the statewide average decreased from 12.6 percent to 11.3 percent.
“I think overall, the high school staff has made that a priority, and they’ve worked on it,” Horton said of the effort to keep students in school. School District 55 has “a lot more alternative programs keeping kids in school that wouldn’t have been in the past.
“It has basically become a focus point of the high school to identify the kids that are not being successful in the four-walls programs.”
Officials have been coming up with programs to help these students achieve results and stay in school, Horton said. The district has started sending more students to the Community Services Consortium, which operates programs such as Youthbuild, in which students learn construction and build homes.
Pat Davis teaches a GED class at the high school that has helped keep students in school, Horton said, and the Linn-Benton Community College center located at the high school has also helped.
Horton has proposed another program that will provide students the opportunity to work in the forest for high school credit, and it may also help further curb dropouts.
Eleven years ago, when Horton interviewed to be superintendent in Oakridge, he remembered the state’s four-year rate to be about 26 percent.
Having declined to 11.3 percent this year, it shows the state has made good progress, he said.
“I won’t be satisfied until Oregonπs dropout rate hits zero,” said Superintendent Susan Castillo of the state Department of Education.
“Until then, there is good news in this report: dropout rates for all groups decreased. The greatest drop was for African American students, but all student groups showed decreases. Staying in school is fundamental to student success, and it is important that the rate continue to decline.”