School District Sees Jump In Dropouts
ELGIN, Ill. (STMW/WBBM) - More than 100 students under the age of 18 withdrew from school in Elgin School District U46 at the end of last year and had not re-enrolled by mid-August.
U46 is Illinois' second-largest school district behind Chicago. The district has six high schools: Bartlett, Elgin, Gifford Street, Larkin, South Elgin and Streamwood.
The 114 students who dropped out is more than the number of students who dropped out in the past two school years combined, according to the school district.
The good news, though, is that 20 of those students have re-enrolled in high school since U46 Superintendent José Torres sent letters to them for the third straight year. And another 15 have called the district for information about attaining a GED (General Educational Development) diploma.
Covering 90 square miles, School District U-46 serves portions of 11 communities in the northwest suburbs of Chicago in Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties, according to the district website.
The district serves more than 40,000 children in grades preK-12. The District ranks as the second largest in Illinois with 40 elementary schools, 8 middle schools and 5 high schools.
"In the current economy, I can only assume that more and more students are placed in the position of having to decide between school and work," Torres said in a written statement. "As a community, we must figure out a long-term solution to address the increasing number of dropouts."
Compared to 114 last school year, 44 students withdrew from school at the end of the 2008-09 school year, according to the district, and 46 withdrew at the end of the 2007-08 year.
Those students came from all U46 high schools and its alternative education programs. That includes Gifford Street High School and the Central Schools Program, which serves students with special needs.
The school district has been making headway in lowering its dropout rate, according to U46. That dropout rate currently is 3 percent, lower than the statewide average of 4.1 percent. In 2010, the district said, it expects to see its dropout rate decrease further.
From 2005 to 2007, School District U46's dropout rate had been higher than the state average.
In his letter to dropouts, sent Aug. 11, Torres emphasized the importance of education to those students.
"An education is very important to your future," he wrote. "For example, a high school graduate will earn hundreds of thousands of dollars more in his or her lifetime than a student who did not complete high school."
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