Local News - October 2003

Many not finishing school on time

PublishedOctober 1, 2003

40 percent of Lincoln students take longer than 4 years

By SARAH GRANO, Staff Writer

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More than 40 percent of Lincoln County high school students do not complete school in four years, according to the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute (NCCAI).

“We want them to get that high school diploma,” said Elaine Jenkins, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

“If it takes an extra semester or an extra year then that’s far better than them not graduating.”

Students who switched high schools at some point during their four years were not counted among those graduating on time, said Joann Haggerty, NCCAI’s data director.

“It’s hard to keep up with youngsters these days. If they go to community college they count as drop outs,” Jenkins said.

“With a high population of Hispanic children, if they leave and graduate in their own country we may not ever know that.”

 Lincoln County’s four year public high school completion rate is 2.6 points lower than the state average, according to NCCAI.

 “Four out of 10 students don’t graduate on time,” said Haggerty.

“You don’t know why kids aren’t showing up at graduation, but migration doesn’t count for all of that.”

Poverty, learning disabilities, poor health and mental disabilities all hurt a student’s chances of graduating on time, Haggerty said.

Some students have families who don’t expect them to graduate high school. Other students leave school for work, Jenkins said.

“Each school is trying different ways of keeping youngsters in schools,” Jenkins said. “We’re making a great effort trying to get students involved in more activities, expanding the curriculum with things like ROTC.”

Surrounding counties had similar results to Lincoln.

Both Catawba County and Cleveland County matched Lincoln’s statistics.

Gaston County faired worse than Lincoln with 43 percent of their high school students not graduating in four years.

North Carolina is ranked 35th in the country for the number of students who graduate in four years, according to the “2003 Kids Count Data Book.”

The state is ranked 39th in the nation in the annual “Kids Count Data Book,” which measures child well-being.

The state has made significant gains on eight out of ten measures of child well-being, but it remains in the bottom quarter in national standings.

Teen birth rate, infant mortality rate and percentage of teen drop outs have all decreased in the last decade.

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Staff Writer Sarah Grano can be reached at 704-735-3031 or sgrano@ltnews.com

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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