CONTACT: JIM MORRIS |
Vol. 43, No. 28
April 15, 2009
DESE to Sponsor a Statewide “Summit” on Dropout Prevention
Videoconference Will Be Held April 20
Although tough economic times are usually an incentive for young people to stay in school, Missouri’s dropout rate in public schools has been inching upward over the past five years.
To combat that trend, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is leading a statewide meeting next week (Monday, April 20) to help schools and communities reduce the dropout rate.
The statewide videoconference will originate at the Missouri School Boards Association headquarters and studio in Columbia. More than 600 educators and community leaders in 21 locations across the state will take part in the first-of-its kind event in Missouri. School districts have been invited to bring teams of representatives to the regional meeting sites.
The Missouri Dropout Prevention Summit is made possible by a grant from America’s Promise Alliance, the national organization founded by Gen. Colin Powell. The project also is supported by State Farm Insurance. The alliance has supported similar meetings in other states and large school districts.
Gov. Jay Nixon will bring video greetings to open the summit. Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, is the featured speaker for the morning session of the videoconference. The event begins at 9:00 a.m. Monday.
“To solve our nation’s economic problems, we need every child to be successful in school so that he or she is ready for higher education and a competitive job. Therefore, we need to do a better job of keeping kids in high school until they graduate,” said Bert Schulte, Missouri’s interim commissioner of education.
“Kids leave school for many reasons. We hope this summit meeting provides a way for educators, business people, social service agencies and youth-serving organizations to be part of the search for tomorrow’s solutions,” Schulte said.
According to Department of Education statistics, Missouri’s public school dropout rate last year (2007-08) was 4.2 percent – or a little more than 12,000 students in grades 9-12. The rate was 3.3 percent five years ago (2003-04) – about 8,900 students.
The news is not all bad, Schulte emphasized. Ten years ago, 185 Missouri school districts had a dropout rate of four percent or higher. Last year (2007-08), only 104 districts (out of 523) had a dropout rate of four percent or more.
In some school districts, however, the dropout rates are much higher than state averages, and the rates for minority youth are much higher – about seven percent for Hispanics and nine percent for African-Americans.
The goal of the summit meeting, Schulte said, is to share ideas that are working in different parts of the state and gather information about the resources schools and other agencies need to address the dropout challenge more effectively.
Local Sites for the Dropout Prevention Summit
School district officials have been invited to bring teams of participants – school board members, business people, community-based organizations, counselors, teachers and others – to each of these locations to participate in the Dropout Prevention Summit. Each site will be connected to the MSBA studio in Columbia.
Arnold |
Fox School District Board Room 849 Jeffco Blvd. |
Brookfield |
Brookfield Area Career Center 122 Pershing Road |
Camdenton |
Camden County Library 89 Rodeo Road |
Columbia |
MSBA Leadership Development Center 2100 I-70 Drive Southwest |
Hannibal |
Hannibal High School Library 4500 McMasters Ave. |
Independence |
Mid-Continent Library 15616 E. 24 Highway |
Jackson |
Cape Girardeau County Extension Center 684 W. Jackson Trail |
Jefferson City |
MSBA VTC & Production Center Governor Office Building 200 Madison |
Joplin |
Joplin High School Jet 14 Conference Room 2104 Indiana |
Kansas City
Moberly |
Ozanam – Smith Hall 421 E. 137th Street Little Dixie Regional Library 111 N. 4th Street |
Nevada |
Bowman Building, Telecenter 2015 N. West Street |
Portageville |
University of Missouri Delta Center 147 State Hwy T |
Sedalia |
Heber Hunt Elementary School 600 S. Warren |
Springfield |
Springfield-Greene County Library Auditorium 4653 S. Campbell Avenue |
St. Charles |
Francis Howell School District Board Room 4545 Central School Road |
St. Joseph |
Rolling Hills Consolidated Library 1904 N. Belt Highway |
St. Louis |
Parkway School District Art Instructional Services Center 12657 Fee Fee Road Cooperating School Districts CHARACTERplus Office 1460 Craig Road |
Sullivan |
Sullivan High School Auditorium 1073 E. Vine Street |
Waynesville |
Waynesville Middle School Fine Arts Building 1001 Historic 66 West |
West Plains |
West Plains Public Library 750 W. Broadway Street |