DATE: Tuesday, September 23, 1997           TAG: 9709230006

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   53 lines

HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS BRING 'EM BACK PORTSMOUTH PLAN FOR RECAPTURING STUDENTS WORKS.

Too many students are dropping out of South Hampton Roads high schools.

The statewide 5 percent dropout rate for ninth- through 12th-graders was exceeded in every Norfolk high school, more than half the Virginia Beach high schools and one high school each in Suffolk and Chesapeake.

Other cities should look for guidance to Portsmouth, where no high school exceeded the state dropout rate last school year. Pilot staff writer Aleta Payne reported that Portsmouth school officials credit an aggressive effort to find students and bring them back.

The Portsmouth system has four counselors assigned to locate students who have ceased attending classes and to help them return to school. The students may need assistance finding day care for their own babies or connecting with the right social service agency when problems at home make attending school difficult.

``We do have an aggressive approach of going out to get them,'' said William Stallings, youth risk prevention coordinator for Portsmouth Public Schools. ``We beat the pavement; we don't just send letters.''

At a time when post-high school education or training is needed for most good jobs, high-school dropouts have two and a half strikes against them.

The difference between dropping out and getting a degree may be the difference between being a lifelong drain on society or a contributor. One of the major indicators that a youth will turn to a life of crime is dropping out of school. Hopelessness breeds crime.

Clearly, money invested in retaining students is money wisely spent.

Consider the story of Eileen Rosas of Virginia Beach. She was 15 when her daughter was born. Afterward, she attended Green Run High School for a year before child-care problems forced her to drop out. Fortunately her day-care problem was resolved and she attended classes at Open Campus, Virginia Beach's night high school. Scheduled to graduate in June, she has dreams for a better life for her daughter and her.

For many students, alternative programs such as Open Campus are priceless.

Norfolk is bringing in Norfolk State University undergraduates to mentor middle- and high-school students who dropped out but were re-enrolled. Again, only good can come of this.

Suffolk has a special program to help students who have fallen way behind in learning to catch up.

Although it is illegal under Virginia law for a student under 18 to drop out of school, officials don't always pursue the matter in court. Many students with complicated home arrangements seem to just disappear.

It is good that schools are doing so much to retain students. But the below-average record for many schools indicates that greater efforts are required.

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