Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 12, 1994 TAG: 9411140069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke County's dropout rate is 2 percent. That's below the state average of 3 percent, but Kidd, the county's director of vocational and adult education, isn't satisfied.
"We are always concerned about every child. We try to keep them in school," he said.
Roanoke County's dropout rate was 1 percent during the 1991-92 school year and 2 percent during 1990-91, according to a state Board of Education report.
The county has a task force working on the dropout issue and trying to come up with new ideas to address the problem.
In a report to the School Board this week, Kidd said the county's Career Center helps keep potential dropouts interested in school. About 130 students in grades eight, nine and 10 are enrolled at the center, where they can get more individual attention and counseling.
Kidd said school administrators telephone students who drop out and try to persuade them to return.
"We try to do whatever we can to get them to stay in school," he said.
At the Career Center, students can take either academic or vocational courses. The goal is to help the students experience success, then transfer them back to their high schools or the Arnold R. Burton Technology Center.
Students drop out for various reasons; it's a subject that most educators don't like to talk about.
Justified or not, many school administrators and teachers feel they have failed when children leave school.
The 1992-93 school year is the latest for which statewide statistics are available.
Among school divisions in Western Virginia, Bedford County and Radford have the lowest dropout rate - 1 percent each.
In Bedford County, Superintendent John Kent attributes the low dropout rate partly to successful alternative education programs designed to keep problem children in schools.
"We try to work with them rather than expelling them or letting them leave," he said. Bedford County participates in a regional alternative program in addition to having its own program.
"We try to provide the educational services that will accommodate the needs of the students," Kent said.
Roanoke's dropout rate of 7 percent is one of the highest in the state. It is a problem that has school administrators worried. Roanoke's rate was 4 percent in 1990-91 and 6 percent the following year.
At the beginning of this school year, Superintendent Wayne Harris told Roanoke's teachers and administrators that the dropout rate must be reduced.
"The current dropout rate is unacceptable. We must increase the graduation rate by developing programs to reconnect students to school," Harris said.
Roanoke is revamping and expanding its alternative education program, a move Harris hopes will keep some potential dropouts in school. The alternative education program will be moved to the Valley Court mall at Interstate 581 and Hershberger Road.
The dropout rate in the 1992-93 school year was 5 percent in Franklin, Montgomery and Pulaski counties. Pulaski's rate remained the same from the year before, but Franklin and Montgomery counties' increased 1 percent.
In Floyd County, the rate dropped from 5 to 3 percent, and Giles County's rate decreased from 3 to 2 percent.
Statewide, the rate has remained at 3 percent for the past three years.
Dropout rates in Virginia are much lower than in many states. The national Goals 2000 educational legislation, which was adopted by Congress this year, calls for a graduation rate of at least 90 percent by the year 2,000.
Nationally, the dropout rate declined from 14 to 11 percent between 1975 and 1992, according to the Goals 2000 report by the National Education Goals Commission.
Students gave varying reasons for dropping out: they did not like school; could not work and go to school at the same time; did not feel safe at school; became pregnant; or could not keep up with the schoolwork.
by CNB