Rates may be lower, but teenagers are still : Dropping Out

Mirroring a statewide trend, high school dropout rates are on the decline in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, according to a new state Department of Education report. Across California, the 1992 dropout rate was 16.6%, compared to 18.2% the year before.

With the exception of the Glendale district, which experienced only a slight increase in an already low dropout rate, percentages in all other Valley-area districts fell or stayed the same from 1991 to 1992. About half of the Valley schools in the Los Angeles System have seen their rates go up, but a few, including San Fernando High School, experienced significant decreases since 1991.

The Antelope valley Union School District saw the biggest decrease, going from 23.4% in 1991 to 11.1% in 1992, the last year statistics are available. One school in that district, Antelope Valley High School, saw its rate fall from 26.8% to 8.2%. One of the more notablechanges in recent years was in the Burbank Unified School District, where Burroughs High School’s rate plunged between 1990 and last year from 18.1% to 2.9%. Antelope Valley Union High School District Total enrollment: 11,966. Grades 9 to 12.

School 1990 1991 1992 Antelope Valley 16.3 26.8 8.2 Highland* 2.8 9.1 Littlerock* 1.9 Palmdale 8.5 16.9 10.4 Quartz Hill 12.5 13.4 11.1

*New schools District total 1991: 23.4 1992: 11.1 Burbank Unified School District Total enrollment: 17, 415. Grades K to 12.

School 1990 1991 1992 Burbank 5.3 5.1 1.4 Burroughs 18.1 2.2 2.9

District total 1991: 7.9 1992: 7.9 Glendale Unified School District Enrollment: 27,707. Grades K to 12.

School 1990 1991 1992 Crescenta Valley 0.9 0.3 0.2 Glendale 0.9 1.8 2.3 Hoover 1.4 0.3 0.6

District total 1991: 1.6 1992: 2.4 William S. Hart Union High School District Total enrollment: 14,464. Grades 9 to 12.

School 1990 1991 1992 Canyon 12.7 9.1 6.2 Hart 6.4 2.8 2.0 Saugus 5.3 8.0 5.0

District total 1991: 11.6 1992: 8.2 Las Virgenes Unified School District Total enrollment: 10,417. Grades K to 12.

School 1990 1991 1992 Agoura 4.4 6.2 6.1 Calabasas 9.7 8.5 5.8

District total 1991: 8.7 1992: 5.8 Los Angeles Unified School District Total enrollment: 640,000. Grades K to 12. Dropout rates for Valley high schools appear below.

School 1990 1991 1992 Birmingham 22.6 29.7 20.3 Canoga Park 31.8 28.8 28.3 Chatsworth 34.2 24.9 29.0 Cleveland 45.3 36.8 28.1 El Camino Real 19.4 19.6 19.8 Francis Poly 36.7 37.9 45.0 Granada Hills 26.4 26.1 25.7 Grant 34.9 27.7 39.8 Kennedy 30.3 22.3 25.3 Monroe 49.2 51.7 47.0 North Hollywood 38.6 32.2 33.3 Reseda 27.6 24.1 22.4 San Fernando 34.7 45.9 34.9 Sylmar 50.2 51.4 56.3 Taft 42.2 27.3 29.3 Van Nuys 33.0 25.9 30.6 Verdugo Hills 49.3 43.5 35.2

District total 1991:38.1 1992:36.9 Source: California Department of Education