Burke stumbles in graduation rate progress
By Anne Marie Kyzer Staff Writer

After making steady strides for the past three years in the graduation rate, Burke County students took a step back in 2007.

The graduation rate at Burke County High School was 52.3 percent this year, a 7 percent drop from last year's 59.5 percent.

The school had boosted their rate some 18 percentage points from 2004-2006.

Superintendent Linda Bailey acknowledged that the school has some work to do, but she and BCHS principal Wayne Hickman both point to strategies recently put in place as basis for encouragement.

"Our graduation rate is not acceptable. We're not going to lie about it," Bailey said. "But we are doing everything we can to see those kids walk across that stage successfully."

Bailey and Hickman agreed that this year's rate does not necessarily mean a downward trend, but may just be a temporary setback.

Many of the programs designed to improve the graduation rate have only begun in the past couple of years, and administrators said they didn't expect to see immediate results.

Hickman said he believes that graduation coaches at the middle and high schools, credit recovery programs, online classes and tutoring programs will help students stay on track.

He also looks to the new composite scheduling, which started this school term, as a major tool for helping students graduate on time.

"One of the reasons we made the change to composite scheduling is to ensure students make it through high school in the intended four years," Hickman said.

Hickman added that the benefits of some programs are already becoming evident in the current student population.

While the school typically has an influx of 400-500 freshmen each year, those numbers shrink substantially as the class moves through high school. Often times, a class would lose half their students between freshman and senior year.

However, Hickman said those trends are changing for the better.

"We're starting to see more of a balance in the number of students in each grade level," he said, adding that those numbers indicate that more students are staying in school.

Bailey stressed that graduation rates cannot be taken at face value.

"The general public does not know that fifth-year seniors do not count in the graduation rate, nor do special education diplomas," she said.

She also added that students who move to other school systems may also be counted as dropouts.