Since the 2007-08 school year, completion rates have risen from 87.9 percent to 92.4 percent in the 2009-10 school year, according to a report released by the district.

Attendance rates overall have also risen in the past few years district-wide, increasing from 95.1 percent in the 2007-08 school year to 95.4 percent in 2009-10, a difference that may seem small, but actually reflects a significant rise, said Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Clydene Freeman.

“I was almost amazed at how strong those (numbers) looked and how balanced they are among subgroups,” Freeman said. “It was a great thing to see that some of these efforts that went on are showing results.”

Superintendent Todd Stephens said at a July 12 board meeting that dropout prevention is one of the school board’s goals this year.

Freeman said administrators began brainstorming about creating preventative programs a few years ago. From there, programs like High School Equivalency Program (HSEP), Omega, Incentive for Students Achieving Great Expectations (ISAGE) and Jumpstart were created.

While HSEP is a “last-ditch” effort to help students obtain a GED, Omega is a preventative program that helps them catch up.

“The Omega program is something we started two to three years ago, it is an opportunity for students to recover credit in more real time,” said Freeman.

The program is computer-based and offers students the chance to give up an elective to re-take a class they failed in the next semester, so they can stay on track with credits.

“It’s on a little more rapid basis,” said Freeman. “It keeps kids from getting so far behind, it catches them ahead of the curve. It’s a preventative program we have at all three high schools.”

Jumpstart is an 8-10 day program for at-risk students that takes place just before the start of school in August.

“This program helps them transition,” said Freeman. “They get to meet teachers ahead of time.”

She added that students in the program take field trips to colleges, get started with school supplies and learn organizational skills.

“That way, teachers already know them and monitor and follow them all year, it kind of gives them an extra support system,” Freeman said.

In addition to the programs, administrators formed a Dropout Committee and implemented a new truancy plan last year.

“If a student has been truant or had unexcused absences for so many days, a ticket can be written immediately with a fine,” Freeman said.

In the old procedure, when absences got to 10, the student was sent to court.

“With older kids, we felt with a quicker manner, just handing it to them, we don’t have to wait for the whole court process to evolve,” said Freeman. “So it’s a little bit more immediate and we felt it was more effective with many of the students.”

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