Hernando dropout, graduation rates draw concern from district

BROOKSVILLE – School district officials warned last week that Hernando County’s lower-than-average graduation rate, if left unaddressed, could undermine improvements made in recent years in reducing the district’s dropout rate.

Total high school graduation rates in Hernando County are about 1.5 percentage points less than the state average, according to Florida Department of Education data. A total of 422 Hernando County high school students did not receive a standard diploma last year.

What the district does to retain those students, and keep them in the school system long enough to graduate, could spare them an awful lot of hardship upon entering the workforce, said School Superintendent Lori Romano.

“We aren’t far below the state, but what concerns me is, we want our students to graduate and graduate on-time with their cohorts,” she said. And if they can’t graduate on time with their cohorts we want them to stay in school and graduate in that fifth year. We do not want them dropping out.”

Florida’s 2013 single-year dropout rate rose slightly last year to 2 percent, the same state dropout rate in 2010, according to FDOE.

Hernando County’s dropout rate for 2013 was slightly higher than the state average at 2.4 percent, according to FDOE.

Although Hernando’s dropout rate is .4 percentage points higher than the state average of 2 percent, last year marks a six-year low for the district.

The highest dropout rate since 2008 in the district was in 2011 when it was 3.1 percent, FDOE data shows.

Romano said her staff has discussed looking into and analyzing data to see where the issues are that lead students to drop out of high school, and the district has learned they need to reevaluate the effectiveness of their data entry process.

“We know part of it could be the way we’re entering kids as they withdraw from our system, and the second thing is: How are we tracking them once they leave our system?” Romano said. “Are we recruiting them back into adult education to get a GED, or an adult high school where they can get a standard diploma?”

“There are things that we can do, and this is going to get better,” she added. “The impact of dropping out of school on a student’s life is significant, and we just can’t have our rate high.” Director of School Improvement, Eric Williams, said during a presentation last week that, among revisions to the district’s five-year strategic plan, includes greater emphasis in identifying and assisting at-risk students, students from low-income families, and students with learning disabilities to improve academic achievement.

Hernando County’s total graduation rate was 74.13 percent to the statewide average of 75.58 percent, according to FDOE, which ranks 3rd among the Tampa Bay Area’s four school districts.

Pasco County Schools had the highest graduation rate at 75.93 percent, followed by Hillsborough at 74.14 percent, and Pinellas had the lowest graduation rate at 71.89 percent, FDOE data shows.

Citrus County Schools’ total graduation rate was 80.07 percent, according to FDOE.

Springstead High School had the highest graduation rate in the district at 80 percent, according to FDOE data, followed by Nature Coast High at 79.5 percent, Weeki Wachee High at 75 percent, Hernando High at 71.4 percent, and Central High at 68 percent.

Statewide graduation rates are measured by the percentage of students who graduate with a high school diploma within four years of their first enrollment in ninth grade, and since 2011 does not include students who earn special diplomas, GED-based diplomas, certificates of completion, or who have been retained and are still in school, according to FDOE.

The rate is calculated for an adjusted group of students on the same schedule to graduate, taking into account those who enter or exit the group, and is used in national comparisons.

In other education news, the district has compiled a list of 23 finalists for the 25th Teacher of the Year award.

Those finalists include Jennifer Mousel, at Brooksville Elementary, Sherri Raymond, at Chocachatti Elementary, Lisa Hallal, at Central High School, MaryAnn Prescott, at Challenger K8, Joyce Eads, at Deltona Elementary, Susan Whealton, at Parrott Middle, Stephanie Hembd, at Eastside Elementary, Jason Baroudi, at Explorer K8, Calvin Brown, at Endeavor Academy, Caroline Albanese, at Fox Chapel Middle, Caroline McGowan, at J.D. Floyd K8, Arleatha Swackard, at Hernando High, Lorrie Zelakowski, at Moton Elementary, Adanise Cruz, at Nature Coast High, Sarah McKenzie, at Pine Grove Elementary, Joi Ely, at Powell Middle, Ann Connell, at Suncoast Elementary, Jennifer Gompers, at Spring Hill Elementary, John Imhof, at Springstead High, Erin Anderson, at Westside Elementary, Alex Rastatter, at West Hernando Middle, Kara Pirolo, at Weeki Wachee High, and Jan Sanderson, at Winding Waters K8.

The winner will be announced Saturday, Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. at the Silverthorn Gold and Country Club, according to Hernando County Schools.

For more information, go to hernandoschools.org