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Superintendent says reporting error to blame for apparent spike
in Canton High dropout rate
By Jay Turner
Citizen Staff
A six-fold
increase in the dropout rate at Canton High School has turned
out to be nothing more than a reporting error, explained
Superintendent Dr. John D’Auria at Thursday night’s School
Committee meeting.
According to
D’Auria, while the state Department of Education is still
reporting a dropout rate of 5.9 percent for the 2006-2007 school
year, the actual rate for CHS last year was less than 1 percent,
which is right around where it has been for the past several
years.
“It seemed
that there was not a backup system of checks and balances to
check thoroughly before the data was submitted and then
afterwards in the window the DOE provides,” wrote D’Auria in an
email Saturday.
Although the
source of the error has not been identified, the superintendent
said it appears that someone from the previous administration
categorized all of the 49 students who left the system last year
as dropouts, despite the fact that just eight of them actually
quit school. He said 20 of the students transferred to private
schools, 19 transferred to other school systems and two
graduated over the summer.
D’Auria said
he tried to get the DOE to correct the mistake — especially
considering the number of new administrators the school has this
year — but was unsuccessful, noting that the data “needed to be
completed and checked last year.”
“We have
since put in place a system for verifying the data both before
and after it is sent to the DOE,” he said.
In other
news:
• D’Auria
informed the committee of a recent, unsuccessful attempt to
reach out to Canton’s seniors through a meeting with members of
the Council on Aging.
“Unfortunately, nobody showed up,” he said of the May 7 meeting,
which had been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the Hansen School
Library.
D’Auria said
he had arranged the meeting in an effort to provide information
about the proposed override and the current state of the
schools. He had also invited BOS Chairman Bob Burr and former
FinCom member Diane Gustafson, both of whom were present, and
COA Director Diane Tynan had invited Cable 8 to tape the event.
The meeting was advertised in the COA bulletin, and bus
transportation and refreshments were also offered.
“An attempt
was made to make a connection there,” noted D’Auria.
Although
disappointed by the lack of attendance, D’Auria said he plans to
continue to reach out to different groups in the community,
including the Council on Aging.
“I think it
is important to have a relationship with them and other town
agencies, and regardless of the override outcome, I would like
to work with them in the future,” he said.
• Assistant
Superintendent Dr. Alan Dewey reviewed the findings of an
independent evaluation of the district’s special education
programs, which was recently completed as a requirement for
federal funding.
Dewey noted
that Canton received exemplary status in a number of key areas,
including its individualized education plan (IEP) process and
its preschool and autism programs. He said the evaluator also
found Canton to be “ahead of the curve” in regard to inclusion,
which refers to a district’s efforts to place students with
special needs in regular education classrooms.
Dewey
praised the special education staff and the regular educators
for all of the “great work” that they have done in the six years
he has been in charge of student services. School Committee
members, in turn, praised Dewey.
“As a result
of what you do,” remarked Chairman Reuki Schutt, “people [who
have children with special needs] stay in our community.”
May 15, 2008
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