T’bonne lagging in grads

The percentage of students who graduate high school in four years increased slightly in St. Mary and Lafourche parishes during the 2006-07 school year over the previous year, according to a state Education Department report released Friday.

Meanwhile, the percentage of students graduating high school fell over two percent in Terrebonne Parish schools during that period.

The 2007 Cohort Graduation Rates, which tracks ninth graders who graduate in a four-year time frame, shows 69.2 percent of St. Mary students graduate in four years. That is a .5 percent jump from 2005-06.

Lafourche Parish graduated 65.5 percent of its students, up .7 percent from a year earlier. Terrebonne’s rate dropped from 61.7 to 59.5.

“The district is committed to significantly improving the graduation rate as we continue to advance student achievement,” said St. Mary School Superintendent Dr. Donald Aguillard. “St. Mary Parish is working diligently with the local dropout prevention team to ensure all students have the opportunity to receive a world class education.”

Among the 62 school districts studied in the report, St. Mary ranked 29th, Lafourche 44th and Terrebonne 53rd.

St. Mary Parish high schools reported the following graduation rates: West St. Mary, 88.7; Berwick, 76.6; Centerville, 76.3; Franklin Senior, 67.4; Morgan City, 64.9; and Patterson, 64.3.

Lafourche Parish high schools reported the following graduation rates: South Lafourche, 69; Thibodaux, 68.6; and Central Lafourche, 61.4.

Terrebonne Parish high schools reported the following graduation rates: H.L. Bourgeois, 68.8; Terrebonne, 68.2; South Terrebonne, 61.4; and Ellender Memorial, 53.6.

Aguillard credits the development of innovative state and local programs with keeping students on track toward graduation.

One of them is the high school Credit Recovery Program, an after-school “fifth-block” class for students who have lost credit in a core subject such as math or English due to failing grades or excessive absences. Students recover credit by working on various computer-based programs and, subsequently, passing a state-approved test.

The state initiative was piloted last year in Franklin and Morgan City high schools with eight students earning 12 credits. With the program in all high schools this academic year, so far 12 students have recovered a total of 34 credits.

“We are trying to eliminate any academic obstacles for high schools kids,” Aguillard said.

Interim Terrebonne Parish School Superintendent Phillip Martin said the system has implanted several state programs, including the Credit Recovery Program and the Dropout Early Warning System, which allows school administrators to analyze and identify students with attendance issues.

Those programs have not had a chance to take hold yet, he said. In the meanwhile, he was puzzled by the Education Department’s calculation of the parish’s graduation rate.

“If you look at the school-by-school graduations, two of them are close to 70, a 61 and a 53. That doesn’t average out to a 59,” Martin complained. “The math doesn’t make sense.”

He also noted that the data is not a complete reflection of all high school graduates. Students who earn a skills certificate or a GED in four years are not taken into account for the report.

“Those kids may not be viewed as a dropout, but this data treats them as a dropout,” Martin said. “They’re counted as a dropout for these purposes. I don’t think people fully realize that.”

Aguillard and Martin understand that to increase graduation rates, their school systems have to start encouraging students to stay in school before they get to high school.

“Fixing the dropout problem doesn’t begin in ninth grade,” Martin said. “It begins long before that. Quite honestly, it happens the first time they walk through the schoolhouse doors in pre-K.”

While Aguillard is not ready to start with kids that young, by the end of the month, St. Mary Parish will launch an extended middle school program to offset retention numbers in fifth, sixth and seventh grades.

Students will receive an hour of instruction beyond normal school hours Mondays through Thursdays. Aguillard expects 30 to 40 kids per school to take advantage of the program.

“Like most districts, we get overage kids. When they fall behind two or three academic years, they have high probabilities of dropping out,” he said. “We recognize that retaining kids in the fifth, sixth, and seventh grade is not to our advantage. We want them to academically progress through middle school so they can pass the LEAP test in the eighth grade and pass into high school.”

Parents of students who do not pass LEAP in eighth grade tend to put their kids in the option program where they work on a skills diploma, Aguillard noted. That increases the likelihood that they will not receive a high school diploma.

“We’re getting buses so we can get these kids home after the extended school day,” he said. “We’re looking for existing teachers to teach these classes. We’re going to pay teachers a stipend to work that extra hour.”

Martin is hopeful the graduation rate slip is an abnormality and not a trend. He vows the school system will do what it takes to get students on the path to a high school diploma.

“The graduation rate will continue to be a major concern that requires our attention,” he said. “We will attack the problem wholeheartedly. I think we have the right programs in place to combat the problem. In time, we will benefit from those programs.”

T’bonne lagging in grads