School, community leaders discuss raising graduation rates

• By MARSHA SILLS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Feb 11, 2009 - Page: 1BA - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LAFAYETTE — Area school and community leaders met Tuesday in Lafayette to develop action plans to improve the state’s high school graduation rates.

The regional summit was held as a follow-up to October’s statewide meeting, “Louisiana’s Promise,” held to create strategies to bump up the state’s graduation rate to 80 percent by 2015-16.

In Lafayette Parish, drop-out rates among ninth-graders were higher than the state average in the years 2001-2007. In 2006-2007, 8.6 percent of Lafayette Parish freshmen dropped out compared to 7.8 percent statewide.

“There are signals that kids send that tell us they’re at risk,” said John Warner Smith, chief executive officer of Education’s Next Horizon. The nonprofit spearheaded the summit and the regional meetings.

At the top of that list of indicators are discipline issues and truancy, Smith said.

The school system has taken steps to address both issues. It recently restructured its discipline plan and with the assistance of the judicial system and law enforcement is addressing truant students in and out of court.

A more strict state law holds students and parents accountable for five or more absences within a semester, which has loaded down the judicial system with more cases and delayed accountability.

For instance, school started in August, but the first truancy issues didn’t go before a judge until October, said Rob Reardon, director of the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center.

“That’s too long. That kid’s gone,” said Reardon, who is on the system’s drop-out prevention committee.

Deputies’ visits with truant students and parents have been effective with an average of 75 percent of students returning to school after a visit, said Katie Landry, Lafayette Parish Schools’ deputy superintendent.

The Lafayette Parish Drop Out Prevention Committee has met at least twice since the statewide summit. In May, all districts will share their voluntary measures with the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Other factors identified by the Lafayette group included linking students and families with community services. Landry said a directory of services will likely be posted on the system’s Web site for easy referral. 

The system’s new student information software system will enable teachers to more easily and readily identify students at risk, Landry said.