Graduation Rate Declines in 4 Districts

The percentage of ninth-graders who go on to complete high school has dropped at four of six area school districts, bucking a statewide trend of improved high school attendance, according to state statistics released this week.

Administrators at each of the districts called the decreases minor, saying their schools overall achieved high four-year completion rates.

The Antelope Valley Union High School District posted the greatest decline locally--3.5%--between 1994 and 1996.

The state’s annual high school performance report also showed dips in high school completion at Acton-Agua Dulce Unified, Glendale Unified and Las Virgenes Unified.

Schools statewide enjoyed a 4% increase in the number of students who finished high school between 1994 and 1996, the latest figures available. Los Angeles County schools overall jumped 6.9%.

Antelope Valley Supt. Robert Girolamo attributed the drop in his district to continuation high school students failing to finish school in four years. He said five of the district’s six comprehensive high schools posted increases of as much as 4% during the two-year period.

“We have a . . . program available to every young person in our system, so the statistics shouldn’t go up,” Girolamo said.

Glendale administrators said the district’s 1.8% drop was due in part to changing demographics. The number of poor students with limited English abilities has grown steadily since the beginning of the decade, contributing to student transiency, they said.

“I think it has something to do with the makeup of the student body,” Glendale Deputy Supt. Donald Empey said.

At Antelope Valley and Glendale Unified, 87% and 95% of ninth-graders graduated in 1997, respectively. At Acton-Agua Dulce and Las Virgenes, the figures--both 98%--were among the highest in Los Angeles County.

“For us, it isn’t sounding any alarms,” Las Virgenes Supt. John Fitzpatrick said of his district’s 0.2% decline.

Las Virgenes, long known as a high-performing district, lived up to its reputation in several categories in the state statistics.

It posted the fifth-highest composite average SAT scores in the county in 1997--1,121--and 52% of its seniors ranked at or above the Scholastic Assessment Test national average, more than double the state percentage.

Also, 61% of Las Virgenes seniors completed college prep classes, again nearly double the state percentage.

‘It’s been a tradition in this district to focus on student achievement,” Fitzpatrick said of his district, whose communities include Westlake Village and Calabasas. “All of our goals are set to make that our No. 1 priority.”

The Antelope Valley Union High School District also earned high marks for sending large percentages of seniors to California public colleges.

Among Los Angeles County school systems, the district posted the largest two-year increase--21%--for sending seniors to California public colleges. In comparison, the county registered a 4.1% increase.

Girolamo, the Antelope Valley superintendent, said the district’s guidance counselors begin talking to students about college as soon as they enter high school. He said Antelope Valley College also assigns counselors to each of the district’s high schools to encourage students to attend the college.

Times data analyst Sandy Poindexter contributed to this story.