Graduation Rate Climbs, Dropout Rate Drops

Hernando County's graduation rate crept up during the 2007-08 school year to 76.9 percent, making it among the counties to help the state hit a record high, according to figures released by the state Wednesday.

That's an increase of 1.8 percent compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, slightly fewer Hernando students opted to abandon school last year. The dropout rate for the 2007-08 year came in at 2.8 percent, down a half percentage point from the previous year.

"I'm very, very pleased with the forward progress," Superintendent Wayne Alexander said Wednesday. "We still have a great deal of work ahead of us, but it tells us we're doing some things correctly and we need to continue to build on it."

Florida also continued its trend of more graduates and fewer dropouts.

The state's average graduation rate is 75.4 percent, up three percentage points from last year.

Florida's dropout rate fell to 2.6 percent, a decrease of .7 percent from last year and a decrease of 2.8 points since 1998-99.

Hernando school officials voiced confidence earlier this year the rate would continue to improve because of a new policy that offers seniors the opportunity to earn one full credit during summer school, giving many students the opportunity to graduate in the fall.

There are a few more policy changes that took effect this year that officials said would help. Students can now earn as many as seven credits per year, up from six, on their way to 24 total credits to graduate.

Students can now earn a full credit during summer school, up from a half credit. And students at the STAR Education Center can earn a regular diploma, not just a general equivalency degree.

The district has made progress in the last eight years to increase graduation rates, only to see some of that improvement erode again.

The rate sank to 67.4 percent in 1999-2000 and had risen to 79.5 percent by 2003-04.

Online program targeted at dropouts

Alexander has an idea to increase the graduation rate and try to give dropouts a chance to earn their degrees.

He will ask the school board next month to consider an online distance learning program from Penn Foster, an accredited company that specializes in independent home study.

The district would pay a flat fee of $1,500 per student for unlimited courses or $585 per course.

The program would allow the flexibility for students now out in the working world and allow the district to meet its obligation to work to bring them back into the fold, Alexander said.

"Kids that have dropped out have different time clocks," he said.

The program also would work for students who haven't officially left school but, as Alexander put it, "are just going through the motions."