Attendance and drop out rate discussed at school board meeting

School attendance and drop-out rates were a large part of the January school board meeting with principal Breez Daniels explaining the importance of freshman success to high school graduation.

Absence rates are going down in the district quite rapidly when compared to the mid-way point in the year, August through December.

In 2017 students with 14 or more absences during that five-month period amounted to 23 percent. By 2018, that number had dropped to just 14 percent. This year, Daniels was happy to announce those absences are down to just six percent.

By graduation time in 2017, 106 students, or 46 percent, had 14 or more absences and 15 percent had 30 or more missed days of school.

Daniels explained absences do include parental excused absences, but they do not include days missed due to sports or activities.

In 2018 those numbers dropped significantly. By May, 27 percent of students had 14 or more absences, but the number of students with 30 or more missed days had dropped to just four percent.

Absences again rose in 2019 with 38 percent having 14 or more absences and nine percent having 30 or more.

Daniels indicated that absences do, indeed, have an impact on a student’s success in high school. If too many days are missed a student may not be able to catch up on classroom work and this is especially important for freshmen.

“We are keeping an eye on the freshman class as those who fail a class as freshmen have a higher rate of dropping out,” she said. “The ninth grade piece is really important to staying in school. They lose hope of completion.”

Daniels added some of the students may not have the support at home to get them through, so everything is focused on intervention time at school to get these kids success and on to graduation.

In discussing drop out rates, Daniels reiterated to the board that a drop out may not just be someone who no longer attends school. Drops outs can also be those who have transferred to another school district and the proper paperwork was never completed or even a student that may be sent to the Boys School in Worland. Both would count as a drop out.

Drop out rates in the district are always in flux, depending on the students in a particular year, families who move and a number of other factors.

During the 2016-2017 school year there were 11 drop outs, yet there were just nine during the 2017-2018 year. Daniels pointed out five of the drop outs that year were sophomores who had failed freshman classes.

Ten students dropped out last year, but so far, there are only three students who have dropped out five months into the year.

When it comes to failing classes, Daniels said the numbers are falling, going from 11 percent of the student body failing a class in 2016-2017 to just two percent for the last two years.

For a perspective, in the 2016-2017 year 86 courses were failed by 26 students. Last year those numbers were 10 failed courses by just five students.