County Dropout Rate Falls to Record Low 1.9%

Mirroring a statewide trend, Ventura County’s dropout rate declined again to a record low of 1.9% for the 1998-99 school year, down from 2.1% the previous year, according to a state Department of Education report released Thursday.

In public high schools across the county, 728 out of 39,102 high school students dropped out last year, contrasted with 800 out of 38,037 the previous year, the report shows. Statewide, 2.8% of students dropped out during the 1998-99 school year, contrasted with 2.9% in 1997-98.

Critics say the data do not accurately reflect how many students actually quit school.

In 1999, just 68.3% of California’s high school seniors who were enrolled four years earlier received diplomas, records show. But the state calculates the dropout rate differently, based on a complicated formula that suggests nearly 90% of all ninth-graders graduate.

State education officials concede that the numbers are approximations.

They say the discrepancy is due to the large number of students who move, take their high school equivalency exam or enter adult schools or community colleges. Officials also believe some districts underreport the number of dropouts.

The data will not be accurate until an electronic system to track all California students is in place, state educators say.

Ventura County principals say their graduating classes are usually much smaller than the original freshman classes, but add that not all the missing students dropped out.

“Where are all those kids?” Fillmore High Principal John Wilber asked. “That’s the question we are asking.”

Regardless of the discrepancies, educators say the numbers released Thursday can be used to track trends.

Ventura County Supt. Chuck Weis said local districts’ low dropout rates show districts are providing alternative programs to help students stay in school. Now, he said, the county’s schools need to focus on the students who dropped out last year and on the hundreds more who are on the verge of leaving.

“That’s the size of an average elementary school,” Weis said. “And it means we have more work to do. We all have to be concerned about any person who would not get a high school diploma in this day and age.”

Weis encouraged school administrators to learn what type of students are quitting school and why they are doing so.

Teens who leave often come from poor families who move frequently, school officials say. Others fall behind in credits and give up when they don’t see any way to catch up in time for graduation.

School administrators often visit those students’ homes, track their progress and get them enrolled in tutoring programs. If that doesn’t work, they might direct the students toward continuation schools or independent study programs.

Administrators also stress the importance of catching low-performing students early, pairing them with peer mentors and getting them involved in sports or extracurricular activities.

“If they have two successful years, grades nine and 10, then the students usually don’t drop out,” said Gary Davis, assistant superintendent for the Oxnard Union High School District.

“So we need to give them our best support when they are young and impressionable.”

Students are considered dropouts if they have missed 45 days of school and do not re-enroll in that district or any other. They are also marked as dropouts if they move and the district loses track of them.

The greatest improvement occurred in the Oxnard Union High School District. Rates there fell from 2.3% in 1997-98 to 1.2% last year, according to data. Davis credited a longer school year and a mandatory summer school program for the district’s success.

In Fillmore Unified, however, the dropout rate increased from 3.8% in 1997-98 to 4.5% last year, the report shows. Fillmore High’s Wilber said the higher number of dropouts may be because the campus is being more vigilant about keeping track of students who leave school.

But Wilber said he will take a closer look at students who get behind in credits early in their high school career. The school also plans to start a mentoring program so freshmen have older students to turn to for help and advice.

The rate also increased last year in several other districts, including those in Santa Paula, Ventura, Simi Valley and the Conejo Valley.

Lucy Schwartz, a counselor with Simi Valley Unified, said she believes more families moved last year but were marked as dropouts because she wasn’t able to find all of them.

Schwartz said she tries to visit all students’ homes if they stop attending school so she can encourage them to enroll in continuation school or get their high school equivalency.

“The [students] are so far behind in credits that going back to a traditional high school would be unreasonable,” she said. “So I tell them, ‘If it can’t work here, let’s find something else.’ ”

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Dropout Rates

Dropout rates are calculated annually by the Department of Education. The data reflect the percentage of high school students who dropped out during recent school years.

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District 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 Conejo Valley Unified 1.8% 1.4% 1.3% 1.5% 1.9% Fillmore Unified 2.9% 3.2% 2.9% 3.8% 4.5% Moorpark Unified 1.9% 1.4% 1.2% 1.5% 1.5% Oak Park Unified 0.1% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% Ojai Unified 3.9% 1.7% 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% Oxnard Union High 4.0% 2.9% 2.5% 2.3% 1.2% Santa Paula Union High 1.7% 3.2% 2.2% 2.5% 2.8% Simi Valley Unified 1.8% 2.1% 1.5% 1.7% 2.0% Ventura Unified 5.0% 4.7% 4.3% 1.4% 2.0% Ventura County 3.5% 2.9% 2.5% 2.1% 1.9% California 4.4% 3.9% 3.3% 2.9% 2.8%

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Source: California Department of Education