Dropping out costly to students, community

From the Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

Dropping out costly to students, community
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

When Kayla Borchart started her fourth year at Huntley High School, she had the academic standing of a freshman.

"I spent more time in the principal's office than I did anywhere else," said Borchart, 20. "It got to a point where I just gave up."

So at 17, she dropped out of school. She got her own apartment, worked multiple jobs and quickly realized how tough it would be to make ends meet without completing high school.

But high school dropouts aren't the only ones who suffer financially when students forgo their diplomas. According to two studies released earlier this year, the Illinois economy could have gained between $9 and $11 billion if every student graduated from high school, and graduated on time.

"[Dropouts] make less money and pay less taxes," said Jack Wuest, head of the Alternative Schools Network, a Chicago-based education advocacy group. "They contribute less, and they just draw more of the public money in terms of health, crime and welfare types of programs."

The organization released a study in September that showed that each high school dropout cost Illinois taxpayers about $221,000 over a lifetime. Another study by the Alliance for Excellent Education estimated that dropouts were even more expensive, and in total cost state taxpayers $11 billion in wages, taxes and lost productivity.

School officials are trying to tackle these figures by taking a close look at the local dropout rates and the reasons that students give for leaving school.

Last school year, Harvard High School had a dropout rate of 6 percent, according to the State Board of Education. Counselors at the school are working to get that number down and recently performed a special study to examine the perceptions of why students leave school.

"Students get behind and they feel hopeless, that they can't catch up," said Jim Bosworth, director of guidance at Harvard High School.

Bosworth said socioeconomic status is closely tied to dropout rates, and some students must work to support their families. Other teens are parents themselves and leave school to support their own children. Yet other dropouts say they left school because they just didn't have the right attitude to succeed.

Natalie Coglianese of Carpentersville attended three different high schools before finally dropping out during her junior year.

"When I was a freshman, I dropped out. When I was a sophomore, I dropped out. They passed me on to junior year with just enough credits," said Coglianese, 17. "If I were to go back to high school I'd be a super, super senior."

Among the high schools that Coglianese attended was Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, which the highest area dropout rate of 7 percent.

Coglianese, who, like Borchart, is attending classes to earn her GED, said one of the problems she had at Dundee-Crown was the block scheduling system in which classes normally last about 90 minutes.

"If I sit in class for an hour and a half, I'm going crazy," said Coglianese, who is pursuing her GED at Elgin Community College. Borchart attends McHenry County College.

Officials at Dundee-Crown said they recognized that traditional school hours wouldn't work for everyone, so in spring District 300 launched the After Hours program.

The program offers students a chance to earn graduation credits during evening classes. Any D-300 student up to age 21 can apply for the program, aimed at students who might drop out because they can't make it to class during the day.

"They're offered for students who maybe haven't been able to fit the traditional mold of the school," said Judy Gard, a counselor at Dundee-Crown. "We're getting quite a number of students back into our doors and getting them to earn credits toward graduating."

This semester, 39 students are enrolled in the After Hours program.

At Harvard High School, officials hope a preventative program implemented this year, LINK Crew, will build solidarity among students and help incoming freshmen feel more comfortable at school.

In LINK Crew, freshmen are split into groups and mentored by upperclassmen. The program gives older students the chance to be role models and younger students another friendly face to look for in the hallways. When the program was in formation this past spring, it sparked quite a bit of interest among students.

"There were plenty that wanted to do it," Bosworth said. "It's going great."


Three highest area high school dropout rates:
Dundee-Crown High School: 7 percent
Harvard High School: 6 percent
Woodstock High School: 2.8 percent

Three lowest McHenry County high school dropout rates:
Johnsburg High School: 0.3 percent
Huntley, Crystal Lake South and Prairie Ridge high schools: 0.4 percent
Hampshire and Richmond-Burton high schools: 0.5 percent
Source: 2007-08 School Report Cards