Subscribe
Community
Dropout rate improves
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009
|
| ||
|
E-Mail This Article
St. Mary's public schools' overall dropout rate was the lowest in at least 15 years, according to data released this week.
In all, 119 students, or 2.13 percent of high school students, dropped out of school last year, according to data from the Maryland State Department of Education. This includes 20 students each from Chopticon and Leonardtown high schools and 79 students from Great Mills High School.
The dropout rate, which is the percentage of students who leave school in grades 9 through 12 in a given year, decreased from 2.8 percent in 2008 to the 2.13 percentage last school year for St. Mary's County. The number is within the state's satisfactory standard of 3 percent.
Scott Smith, director of secondary instruction, administration and school improvement, said the economic recession has also added stressors to students, especially those from economically disadvantaged families.
"That's really only part of it," he said. Teachers and school administrators need to identify students at risk of dropping out, he said, and work with them one-on-one through intervention programs to help them stay in school.
