Report Urges Focusing on County Drop-Out Rate

Amanda Eck, 13, a Belleview Middle School student, listens to her mentor, Geri Palmer during the Take Stock in Children drop-out prevention orientation.

OCALA -- One out of every six freshmen who enter high school in Marion County does not graduate.

In the same breath that auditors from SchoolMatch, a Westerville, Ohio-based firm that examined the Marion County school district, praised the school system for preparing students for college, it admonished the school system for its 17.52 percent drop-out rate.

"I think that they're doing a great job of preparing those kids who are really serious in going on to college," said SchoolMatch President and CEO William Bainbridge. "What we did not see was the kids who were not there."

Bainbridge said the key to having kids graduate is getting them beyond freshman year in high school.

"If a youngster typically can make it through the 10th grade, they'll try to graduate," he said.

That's no secret to Harrell Harrison, director of student services for the Marion County school system.

"Absolutely, the problem right now is getting them past ninth-grade," Harrison said. "With the raising of standards, emphasis on doing better, choosing a career path, having to take algebra, that 2.0 GPA, a lot of them look at it as a very high mountain to climb.

"I think what the school system has to do is provide as much counseling and direction for these kids ... so these kids who are not performing at grade level have a chance to catch up and not feel like they should drop out," he added.

Kathy Wilson, 13, a North Marion Middle School student ponders her future Thursday during the Take Stock in Children orientation at the Webber Center at Central Florida Community College.

SchoolMatch suggested establishing a districtwide plan to address dropouts, and track the success of programs such as the TOPS (Target on Pupil Success) and SEA (Secondary Education Alternative) middle and high school programs. "We have a TOPS program in every middle school, we have a SEA program in every high school," Harrison noted.

Students targeted as potential dropouts, or at-risk students, sometimes have trouble dealing with different teachers and changing classes, Harrison said.

"In a TOPS class we try and get them into a self-contained classroom where they have the core of academics from one teacher," Harrison said. "That's one of the things that's more settling for them."

Then, some students drop out because of peer pressure, Harrison said. Others because of family situations or a need to get a job.

"That's part of the success of Storefront (Alternative Education Center), it gives them flexibility," Harrison said.

Bainbridge said that an expansion of Storefront may be one solution to the county's drop-out problem.

Since Storefront opened four years ago, 357 students have received diplomas there.

Anywhere from 100 to 120 students attend school there every day, using computer courses to finish their school work. But another 60 students are on a waiting list because no openings are available during the hours they can attend.

"Probably 95 percent or more of our kids work," said Carolyn Ayres, the counselor at Storefront and the retrieval and alternative programs counselor for the school district.

Most of them have jobs in the afternoon and evening.

"I don't have a single opening between 8 a.m. and noon," Ayres added. "I've got plenty of openings if you're willing to come to school at 1 p.m."

The best way to reach kids, Ayres said, is to have a program that's viable for them.

"For instance we have seniors right now who have finished all the credits they need. They don't understand why they have to stay in school until May," Ayres said.

The school now has 50 computers. It could be expanded as SchoolMatch recommends, Harrison said, but in the past there hasn't been enough emphasis put on Storefront.

"We have not had the personnel to work it," Harrison said. "Obviously we're going to have to focus on that."

Still, Storefront is a dropout-retrieval program and SchoolMatch indicated that a greater emphasis must be put on keeping children.

Peggy Finch, who worked with a TOPS class at Osceola Middle School last year, said the key to turning a child back on to school is individual attention.

"It's being able to work with the student from where they are in the knowledge of whatever subject it is and building on that -- which you can't do in a class of 35," said Finch, now coordinator of corporate training for Central Florida Community College.

"Then they can make great strides once you build on that," she added. "But the thing that's going to make the difference is whether a child puts 110 percent into it."

Some programs, like Take Stock in Children, offer its participants a chance to earn a pre-paid post-secondary scholarship and a caring adult for guidance. Sometimes, that's enough, said Suzanne McGuire, one of two Take Stock coordinators

"Maybe the carrot is the scholarship saying 'We know you can do it, we're rooting for you and when you do it, we can reward you,'" McGuire said.

"You stop them from dropping out early on," she added. "From a standpoint, the transition from middle school to high school really has an impact on some people, you go from being a big shot to being a little stinky freshman."