County Dropout Rate Down Slightly in 1990 : Education: 16.3% figure continues trend and beats state average, but much work remains, officials say.

Slightly fewer students dropped out of school in San Diego County last year, continuing a five-year trend, according to a state Department of Education report released Tuesday.

The dropout rate for local schools fell to 16.3% in 1990, down from 16.5% the previous year and significantly lower than the state average of 20.2%, the report says.

“In a time when the San Diego County population is growing, and the pace of this society is getting faster, we are encouraged by the figures,” said Carol Pugmire, assistant superintendent at the county Office of Education.

The slight decline, although not bad news, is still not yet a sign of success for the county’s myriad dropout prevention programs.

“I would hope that we will keep going down slowly but surely as we train more kids over time,” Pugmire said.

It would have been easy for dropout figures to increase given the pressures children face to leave school, Pugmire said.

“Growth is just busting at the seams, there are whole new ethnic groups in the county, there are increasing economic pressures, and an increasing number of dysfunctional families,” Pugmire said.

The statewide dropout rate fell a nominal 1.2% from last year’s 21.4%, according to the state report, and only three school districts in San Diego County had rates higher than the state figure. Vista Unified, San Diego Unified and Fallbrook Union High had rates of 20.4%, 21.9% and 26.2%, respectively.

A dropout is defined as any student in grades 10, 11 or 12 who leaves school for 45 consecutive days and has not re-enrolled, has not requested that a transcript be sent to another school or has not graduated by the following October.

The dropout rate in the San Diego Unified School District inched up in 1990 from 21.3% the previous year. While the rate has steadied, district officials said there is more work to be done.

“The current dropout rate is unacceptable, and we need to do all that we can to lower it. We can’t stop working toward reducing it,” said Ruben Carriedo, assistant to the superintendent.

Although districts have implemented many programs to address the problem, the dropout rate in the San Diego district has remained relatively steady since the rate was pegged at 21.5% in 1987, one year after the state began collecting the data.

“We are going to have to wait a few years to know whether the programs that are being developed at the elementary level, for instance . . . pay off in terms of future dropout rates,” Carriedo said.

Other district officials said that, although the trend toward lower dropout rates has slowed, San Diego Unified still compares favorably to its large northern neighbors.

Los Angeles Unified, which serves five times more students than San Diego Unified, had a reported dropout rate of 40.9%, more than double the state average. Sacramento Unified had a dropout rate of 40.7%, while Oakland Unified’s rate was 31.2% and Long Beach Unified’s was 29.3%.

San Francisco Unified and Berkeley Unified had rates of 13.0% and 6.6%, respectively.

Five of the 15 high school districts in San Diego County posted significantly higher dropout rates in 1990 than in 1986. That is because the five districts, all in North County, began with so few students dropping out that any increase dramatically raised the rate.

The dropout rate for Vista Unified, however, was under-reported in 1986, officials there said, resulting in an apparent 209.1% increase in the rate from 1986 to 1990.

“Dropout rates are a real significant problem for us, and it’s not one that we’re taking lightly, but as far as a 200% increase, that’s not accurate,” said Bruce Harter, Vista Unified’s assistant superintendent.

The district should have reported a dropout rate of 30.3%, but, because of clerical errors, actually reported 6.6% in 1986, Harter said.

Nevertheless, the district has experienced a steady increase in its dropout rate over the past three years.

“The bottom line is that the whole nature of our students has changed . . . everything from changes in the family to increasing numbers of immigrants, and we haven’t adapted as quickly as we need to,” Harter said.

Dropout Rates

School Districts in San Diego County

Dropout Dropout Dropout Percent Number of Rate Rate Rate Change Dropouts District 1990 1989 1986 1986-1990 1990 Coronado 3.2 8.1 8.4 -61.9 5 Grossmont 7.3 5.1 25.6 -71.5 331 Mountain Empire 7.9 15.5 12.0 -34.2 10 Julian 8.2 26.7 11.1 -26.1 4 Carlsbad 8.9 14.0 19.0 -53.2 39 San Dieguito 10.6 11.4 9.9 7.1 128 Poway 11.8 7.9 14.3 -17.5 201 Borrego Springs 14.4 9.0 0.0 NA 4 San Marcos *14.5 * 16.2 9.7 * 49.5 * 77 Oceanside 15.5 30.2 29.7 -47.8 126 San Diego County 16.3 16.5 24.9 -34.5 *4,143 Sweetwater 17.1 20.1 26.5 -35.5 761 Escondido 19.4 23.9 24.3 -20.2 283 Ramona 19.8 11.8 14.3 38.5 78 State 20.2 21.4 25.0 -19.2 65,179 Vista 20.4 16.9 6.6 209.1 229 San Diego Unified 21.9 21.3 32.1 -31.8 1,723 Fallbrook 26.2 20.4 11.8 122.0 144

**Change Based on District 1986 Rate Coronado -8 Grossmont -830 Mountain Empire -5 Julian -1 Carlsbad -44 San Dieguito 8 Poway -43 Borrego Springs NA San Marcos * 15 Oceanside -115 San Diego County * -2,058 Sweetwater -418 Escondido -71 Ramona 22 State -15,488 Vista 155 San Diego Unified -802 Fallbrook 79

* Corrections made to data reported in May 17 State Department of Education memo.

** The difference between the number of reported dropouts in 1990 and potential dropouts based on the 1986 rate.

Source: San Diego County Office of Education