ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995 TAG: 9512280035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Roanoke County schools don't let students drop out quietly.
Every student who stops coming to school or hints at dropping out is contacted by a teacher, principal or counselor, who determines the reason the student might quit and tries to persuade him to stay in school.
If the student won't stay, school officials encourage him to enroll in a General Educational Development program, either during the day or at night, so he can graduate.
"We try to let them know that we care - that someone is concerned about them," said Garland Kidd, director of vocational and adult education. "We try to work out something that will meet their needs."
Kidd said the county also offers special tutoring to students who consider quitting because of academic problems. "We have teachers who work with students both before and after school if they need special help."
If students enroll in GED programs, they are not counted as dropouts in the state's reporting system.
The county's efforts to keep students in school are paying off. It has one of the lowest dropout rates in the state.
Last year, the county's dropout rate was 1.07 percent - 79 out of 7,355 students - continuing a gradual decline in the past eight years.
Dropouts are defined as students in grades seven through 12 who withdraw from school for reasons other than promotion, transfer, death or graduation and do not enter another school during the school year.
They include students who are enrolled on the last day of school who fail to return to school by Oct. 31 of the following school year.
Eight years ago, the county's dropout rate was 4.3 percent, which was above the state average. School officials embarked on a program to lower it.
By 1991, the rate was reduced to 1.8 percent. The county set a goal of 1.5 percent.
Early in the school year, teachers try to identify students who might drop out.
"It is something that we concentrate on every year," Kidd said. "You can't rest on what you did last year."
Some students need special attention and encouragement to stay in school because they have a poor family environment, he said.
Kidd said poor academic performance and behavioral problems were the main reasons for the county dropouts.
In the past year, 54 percent of the dropouts cited academics for quitting; 17 percent, behavior and discipline problems; and 12 percent, family reasons.
Fifty-six percent of the dropouts were boys, and 44 percent were girls.
The state average was 3.51 percent in 1993-94, the last school year for which statewide statistics are available.
Norfolk had the highest dropout rate, 7.95 percent, based on figures from the state Department of Education.
Highland County, the smallest school division in Virginia with 387 students, was the only locality in the state to report no dropouts.
The dropout rate for several school systems in Western Virginia in 1993-94 was higher than the state average: Roanoke, 5.45 percent; Pulaski County, 4.91 percent; Craig County, 4.79 percent; and Montgomery County, 4.32 percent.
Roanoke has set a goal of lowering its rate by 1 percentage point in each of the next three years.
Western Virginia school divisions with rates below the state average include: Radford, 1.05 percent; Bedford County, 2.02 percent; Floyd County, 2.17 percent; Giles County, 2.31 percent; Salem, 2.4 percent; Botetourt County, 2.83 percent; and Franklin County, 3.22 percent.
Three counties in Southwest Virginia also recorded low rates: Smyth, 0.45 percent; Bland, 0.97 percent; and Lee, 1.68 percent.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by Roanoke County Dropouts. color.by CNB