Ventura’s Dropout Rate Doubles in 4 Years

While high school dropout rate in the city of Ventura has more than doubled during the past four years, schools in Simi Valley have managed to cut their dropout rates in half during the same period, according to figures released today by the California Department of Education.

Countywide, the dropout rates have remained fairly steady--and below the state average--since the 1991-92 school year. They are generally low in the more affluent east county districts, while they are highest in Ventura, Oxnard and Ojai--in that order.

In Ventura, nearly 1 in 20 students dropped out of high school during the 1994-95 term, the state report shows.

“I am very concerned about it and don’t like what is going on,” said Ventura Unified School District Supt. Joseph Spirito. “My job is to keep every kid in school.”

Earlier this year, Spirito asked his staff to prepare a report on dropout rates. That report, which details the problem and recommends steps to remedy the situation, will be presented to the school board tonight, Spirito said.

“We are going to the board with a report,” he said. “Hopefully, they will agree that this is important enough to do something about it.”

The largest segment is from the district’s alternative education programs, said Assistant Supt. Pat Chandler, who prepared the report.

About three years ago, the district decided to cut its alternative education programs at Ventura and Buena high schools and replaced them with programs at Pacific High School, the district’s continuation school, Chandler said. The increased dropout rate is in part a fallout from those cuts, Chandler said.

She added that dropout rates should be taken with a grain of salt, because students who move on to adult education programs are not tracked and are considered dropouts.

Chandler hopes the board will approve recommendations to reinstate the alternative education programs that have been cut and implement new ones at various locations throughout the city.

The most encouraging figures in the county came from the Simi Valley Unified School District, where the rate has dropped from 3.5% in 1991-92 to 1.8% in 1994-95.

“I think we are on the right track,” said Judy Barry, president of the school district board. “We have done a better job at tracking our students.”

Barry said the district hired attendance counselors who meet with at-risk students and try to prevent them from dropping out. The district also put together an attendance review board that has similar objectives and is made up of administrators, community members and police, Barry said.

Overall, county dropout rates have remained steady at about 3.5%, nearly a full point under the statewide average.

In the Oxnard Union High School District, the rate has fluctuated during the past few years from 3.8% in 1992-93 down to 2.6% the following year and back up to 4%, according to the most recent data.

“It fluctuates up and down, and we are doing pretty well,” said Supt. Bill Studt. Since 1986, when the dropout rate was near 12%, the district implemented several programs intended to keep kids in school, Studt said.

The Oxnard district put in place a variety of alternative educational programs, expanded its continuation high school, added more educational programs for teen parents and increased the number of summer school classes, said Assistant Supt. Gary Davis.

In the Conejo Unified School District, dropout rates have remained steady at about 1.8%.

The Oak Park Unified School District, located in one of the county’s most affluent areas, tucked into the hills just west of the Los Angeles County line, has the lowest dropout rate in Ventura County.

Only one student, of a total of 707, dropped out during the 1994-95 year.

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Dropout Rates

Dropout percentage rates for grades nine through 12 in Ventura County school districts are compared over a four-year spread. *--*

District 1991-92 1994-95 1994-95 enrollment Conejo Unified 1.4 1.8 5,717 Fillmore Unified 4.5 2.9 956 Moorpark Unified 2.8 1.9 1,458 Oak Park Unified 0.0 0.1 707 Ojai Unified 3.5 3.9 1,125 Oxnard Union High 3.5 4.0 12,510 Santa Paula Union High 3.4 1.7 1,319 Simi Valley Unified 3.5 1.8 5,660 Ventura Unified 2.2 5.0 4,457 STATE TOTAL 5.2 4.4 1,454,899

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Source: California Department of Education