High School Dropout Rate Down in Valley : Education: Officials credit decline to more intensive counseling, varied curriculum and better reporting methods.

Fewer students dropped out of San Fernando Valley high schools last year compared to the previous year, reflecting a districtwide decline in the dropout rate of about 2%, according to figures obtained Tuesday.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials credit the decline to more intensive counseling, varied curriculum and better reporting methods despite drastic cuts in district dropout prevention programs in the last two years.

A dropout is defined as a high school student who was absent 45 days or more and for whom there was no request for a transfer of records to another school.

About one in 18 students dropped out of Reseda High School last year. The 5% rate was the lowest of any Valley high school; the district average was 13.5%.

Administrators at Reseda High say the numbers reflect aggressive efforts to locate students after they stop attending school and encourage them to enroll in continuation or adult school or similar education program. Once enrolled, a student is bumped off the dropout list.

“It’s honestly a lot of paper pushing,” said Donna Doyka, assistant principal in charge of attendance at Reseda High School. “When you are aggressive, you can find them and persuade them to enroll in alternative education.”

At Cleveland High School in Reseda, which had the highest dropout rate in the Valley, about one in six students dropped out. But the rate is significantly lower than at Washington Prep School in Los Angeles, which recorded the district’s highest dropout rate of more than one in three.

Jack Molina, assistant principal at Cleveland High, called the figures disappointing, but said he could not pinpoint the reason his school had a higher rate than others in the Valley.

“It’s a concern,” he said. “We need to address it and see what we can do about it.”

Statewide figures, which are calculated according to a three-year projection and often paint a dimmer picture than the annual district figures, will be released in late April. Instead of reporting the number of students who drop out of high school each year, the state Department of Education uses annual figures to project rates for a three-year period.

According to the most recent figures for the district in 1991-92, more than one in three students who started high school did not finish. According to district projections, the state figure will improve slightly this year.

District and state officials disagree about which figures are more accurate. A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said district calculations reveal little because by showing just one year at a time, they do not count the total number of students who start high school but do not finish.

“It’s a scam,” Susie Lange said. “Districts want to do that because it makes them look better.”

But David Myklebust, a specialist with the instructional technology division of the district, said the state figures, which are projections rather than actual numbers, are of little use to individual schools. In addition, he said, the three-year projections do not account for ninth-graders, who now attend many district high schools.

The controversy aside, officials note that districtwide rates fell despite budget cuts that slashed funding to the dropout prevention office. The administrative office employed six people two years ago. Now it employs one part-time coordinator and an administrative assistant.

The cutbacks reflect a 6% decrease for the past two years in state funding of a grant that targets students at risk for dropping out of school.

But Michael Godfrey, who coordinates the district program, said schools are increasingly writing their own grants for new counseling programs and innovative curriculum plans, which he credits with keeping more students in class.

“There is an emphasis on trying to make school environments more attractive to kids and to serve them better,” he said. “They are trying to surround students with services.”

At James Monroe High School in North Hills, the dropout rate declined from about 19% to about 15%. Principal Joan Elam credits the addition of a magnet program, new teachers and more intensive counseling for the drop.

“We are meeting the needs of our students,” Elam said. “The more you can find out what their needs are, then try and provide for them, the better.”

At Van Nuys High School, where the rate was nearly 16%--down only slightly from last year-- Assistant Principal Herm Clay said a high rate of transiency could be a factor.

* VALLEY BRIEFING: B5