San Benito High School increased its graduation percentage in
the 2008-09 school year for the second year in a row, as the rest
of the county’s rates stayed the same, according to a California
Department of Education report last week.
San Benito High School increased its graduation percentage in the 2008-09 school year for the second year in a row, as the rest of the county’s rates stayed the same, according to a California Department of Education report last week.
Overall, the county’s graduation rate rests at 86 percent and the state’s totals decreased to a little more than 78 percent.
At the same time, dropout rates throughout the county continue to reside underneath the state average, according to the same report. The county’s dropout rate decreased by a little more than a percentage point from the prior year’s total of 115 dropouts between grades seven through 12. In the most recent figures, the number of dropouts decreased to 105 students.
The annual report released by the California Department of Education measures the exit of students from the state’s schools, including dropouts, transfers and graduation. For the first time this year, the state used the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System to collect and analyze the information.
CALPADS issues a specific student identifier for each student between grades 7 and 12. The identifier measures how each student progresses through school, according to the department of education.
The report then predicts or measures the dropout rate over a four-year period, from grades 9 through 12, of the same students. The measurement is an estimate.
Overall, the state’s four-year dropout rate is 17.4 percent. The county’s rate is 11.6 percent, 0.9 percent less than last year.
San Benito County Office of Education Superintendent Mike Sanchez said it was the involvement from parents and teachers that allowed the county to have a lower dropout rate.
“I still believe one of our advantages with this community is our size and the ability to work together,” he said. “There is a lot of communication between the schools. There really is an effort to work together.”
And that effort affects both the high graduation rate and the low dropout rates, Sanchez said.
“We commit to the students and the students enjoy school,” he said.
San Benito High Superintendent Stan Rose warned of possible errors in the data collected from the state because of software issues with the new program, but he expected the school and the county to keep their improved numbers – perhaps even increase them.
“There are a lot of things we are doing to get kids to graduate,” Rose said.
Sanchez echoed that the county stays involved with each student and school to help them progress from grade to grade.
“This community really cares about its students – we just do,” Sanchez said. “You can feel it.”
Mostly, it’s the programs that the county and schools offer that keeps the kids involved, Sanchez said.
At San Benito High, the largest school in the county, the graduation rate increased and the dropout rate decreased. Rose believes it’s the involvement from parents, teachers and other school staff that creates an enjoyable learning experience for the students.
“There are so many extracurricular programs that students can get involved with,” he said. “We have more students than not, involved with something and that keeps them in school.”
Despite the improvement, Rose wants to see more.
“We are still going to seek full enrollment and full graduation,” he said.
