Sweet Home High School’s dropout rate for 1999-2000 decreased to 6.49 percent from 9.84 percent in 1998-99, according to the statewide dropout report released March 15.
“That’s a big, huge improvement,” SHHS Principal Pat Stineff said, and work is continuing at the high school to continue improving the rate.
“Steve Hummer (social studies teacher) just got back from three days training in California,” Stineff said. The training was on the Link program, something the school started this year. That program would have no bearing on the improvement of the rate in 1999-2000.
In that program, juniors and seniors help freshmen transition from the junior high to the high school setting. Where it’s been tried before, high school students perform better academically, attendance improves and dropout rates decrease.
As far as the latest dropout statistic, Stineff said, “I think we did a better job of tracking some of our dropouts too. Some of them we found actually moved. They have to count as a dropout if they go to another high school if they don’t request records.”
SHHS found a number of eight graders moving to the ninth and moving to another school district, Stineff said. Since they hadn’t attended high school, records were never requested and those students had to count as dropouts until SHHS established what had happened.
As far as other dropouts, “a lot of it is that they have dug themselves such a hole with failing grades or attendance that they can’t graduate,” Stineff said. A lot of them say they will go get their GED but drop out of that after awhile.
“I’d say the vast majority of dropouts are not connected to school,” Stineff said. They are not involved in any clubs, spots or with friends in the school, so they build no connections or ties to the school, and that is “hugely important.”
It doesn’t take much to connect them, Stineff said. Sometimes that connection can come through an adult on staff. That’s something that the staff talks about.
Stineff said her guess is that this year’s dropout rate will rise a bit although “I would hope it doesn’t. That was a huge drop, and we’re pleasantly surprised by it.”
She doesn’t think it will go up as high as it had been.
Across the state, high school rates declined for the second year. They were at 6.3 percent from 6.6 percent, the lowest in three years.
“I am pleased to see that Oregon high schools are increasing their holding power,” State Schools Supt. Stan Bunn said. “They did this at the same time our higher academic standards were implemented. Higher test scores and lower dropout rates are a clear sign that Oregon’s excellent schools are getting better.”
However, Supt. Bunn said, the rate remains unacceptable.
“The fact that we lost 10,363 high school students that year is a not-so-gentle reminder that more must be done to keep students in school,” Supt. Bunn said.
Bunn asked the Legislature to fund a $2.7 million dropout initiative to support school dropout prevention programs.
“Schools are doing heroic things to keep students in school,” Supt. Bunn said. “But we are absent a statewide strategy to support them.”
The top reason students gave for leaving was they were too far behind in credits for graduation. The other reasons, in order, are lack of parental support for school, dysfunctional home life, not “fitting in,” and pregnancy.
In other highlights, 70 percent of all dropouts come from schools with more than 1,000 students. Boys drop out at higher rates than do girls, especially at later grades. The time when the greatest number of students drop out appears to be during or after a long period of hiatus from classes.
Schools with the greatest percentage decreases in dropouts are Gervais, Coquille, Sweet Home, Madras, North Marion, Henley and Douglas.