SBCSS News and Press Releases

Stakeholders Meeting To Address County Droput, Graduation Rates

2009-11-06

SAN BERNARDINO - San Bernardino County Superintendent Gary Thomas has made a call to action to address lowering high school dropout rates and raising graduation rates in the county. A group of education stakeholders will meet on Nov. 10 to discuss the issue.

"The dropout rate in our county is simply unacceptable," Thomas said. "As a society, we have a lot at stake to reverse these trends. That's why it's so important that we draw upon the expertise of all stakeholders in our community to initiate best practices that ultimately will help our students."

More than 50 stakeholders from education, as well as partners from business, labor, government, faith-based and community groups, have been invited to attend the first meeting on the initiative. The stakeholders' meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 10 at the county registrar's office, 777 E. Rialto Ave. in San Bernardino.

Participants at the meeting will look at key research on dropouts and discuss strategies and programs to address the issue.

According to the most recent data on graduation rates from the 2007-08 academic year, San Bernardino County's graduation rate of 74.3 percent, which is under the state average of 80.2 percent. Conversely, the county's four-year dropout rate of 22.5 percent is above the state average of 18.9 percent.

"Producing a more educated and skilled workforce is key to the economic viability of our region," Thomas said. "We need to ensure that all of our students are engaged in learning, and we need all of our stakeholders' input to keep our students in school and on a path toward high school graduation, as well as post-secondary options."