Dropping Out : RATE DECLINES AT VALLEY HIGH SCHOOLS

A majority of the 16 regular high schools in the San Fernando Valley recorded a decline in dropout rates last year, according to Los Angeles Unified School District figures released last week. Districtwide, the number of dropouts--decreased from 15.28% to 13.51%.

The dropout rates--which the district began recording in 1985--show the actual number of students who missed more than 45 days of school without officially transferring to another school or alternative education program.

The state Department of Education uses a different method to calculate dropout rates, projecting figures over a three-year period to show how many 10th grade students actually finish high school. The 1991-1992 state figure for the district was about 37%.

Los Angeles Unified School District

Total enrollment: 640,000. Grades K to 12. Dropout rates for LAUSD schools appear below. Valley high schools appear with an asterisk (*):

School 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 Banning 19.1% 19.7% 20.3% 18.2% Bell 12.4 14.4 13.9 9.4 Belmont 15.7 14.1 14.2 14.9 Birmingham* 10.7 10.6 6.7 12.7 Canoga Park* 12.7 9.8 9.2 9.7 Carson 10.2 8.3 11/1 9.9 Chatsworth* 12.9 8.9 10.2 6.0 Cleveland* 23.5 14.8 13.3 17.0 Crenshaw 28.4 19.7 20.5 14.3 Dorsey 20.0 21.0 23.3 20.6 Eagle Rock 9.1 8.7 8.3 8.4 El Camino Real* 7.8 6.6 7.5 6.5 Fairfax 27.6 22.2 18.0 31.5 Franklin 17.1 17.2 19.1 16.0 Fremont 27.7 26.8 22.9 13.7 Gardena 26.2 20.7 16.7 9.2 Garfield 9.3 7.5 5.5 5.4 Granada Hills* 9.4 9.2 9.2 7.5 Grant* 13.5 10.8 15.7 11.0 Hamilton 14.0 13.7 14.2 10.0 Hollywood 21.7 17.5 24.0 22.7 Huntington Park 9.2 9.5 15.2 12.6 Jefferson 21.6 25.3 20.6 15.6 Jordan 35.9 25.6 26.5 30.9 Kennedy 11.2 7.7 9.3 8.2 Lincoln 11.3 13.8 11.8 17.4 Locke 32.4 23.9 29.0 30.1 Los Angeles 27.4 25.0 18.9 11.7 Manual Arts 36.9 29.9 36.3 30.5 Marshall 13.7 13.0 13.4 13.8 Monroe* 20.7 19.8 19.2 15.6 Narbonne 13.7 11.5 10.7 9.5 North Hollywood* 16.4 13.7 13.1 11.5 Palisades 12.4 7.8 12.4 7.0 Polytechnic* 14.0 13.7 16.6 10.5 Reseda 11.7 9.5 8.2 5.5 Roosevelt 22.1 13.6 13.5 15.1 San Fernando* 14.6 19.8 14.8 12.4 San Pedro 11.6 12.3 13.8 16.6 South Gate 6.6 6.0 7.2 4.2 Sylmar* 19.4 18.8 9.8 6.9 Taft* 16.8 8.8 9.8 6.9 University 7.6 12.1 9.4 13.6 Van Nuys* 19.6 13.9 16.8 15.7 Venice 16.3 13.5 16.3 17.0 Verdugo Hills* 19.2 13.9 12.0 11.0 Washington Prep 35.5 30.1 35.6 35.4 Westchester 11.1 11.6 17.7 6.4 Wilson 16.4 13.2 18.1 10.7

Source: Los Angeles Unified School District