Dropout rate affected by program for at-risk students

The dropout rate for Sisters High School more than doubled from 2002-03 to 2003-04. That sounds bad. But the story behind the numbers provides a different perspective.

In the first place, the 2003-04 dropout rate was still only 2 percent. That’s less than half the statewide average of 4.5 percent, according to the annual report issued last month by the Oregon Department of Education.

But Sisters High School Principal Bob Macauley, who was out of town when the state report was issued, last week shed further light on the subject. He said the increased rate relates to the fact that for the past several years Sisters High has run an educational program in conjunction with the Heart of Oregon Corps (HOC), a local nonprofit organization.

The program accepts high school students from throughout the tri-county area (Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson). Heart of Oregon provides part-time employment, while Sisters High School adds an educational component. Although most of the participants don’t take regular classes at the high school, for state purposes they are officially enrolled there. Those who are not Sisters residents transfer to Sisters by interdistrict agreement.

The school district receives per-student state financial support for these students based on the amount of instruction it provides them.

In a letter to the Secretary of State’s audit division earlier this year, Sisters School Superintendent Ted Thonstad described the program this way: “Founded in the 2001-02 school year, HOC is a not-for-profit corporation that operates (an alternative education) program for at-risk students who have exhausted all educational options in their resident school district.

“…Students are paid minimum wage for the hours spent working. Participation in the program requires the students to demonstrate academic progress toward a high school diploma or a GED and commitment to become a responsible and motivated worker. Students receive approximately eight hours of instruction in the core subjects and about 22 hours of work experience, including work-based elective options. Because of their previous school and life experience there is a high student turnover rate in this program.”

Dan Saraceno works half-time as a Sisters High counselor and half-time as an education specialist with Heart of Oregon. In a joint interview with Macauley, he explained: “Our message has always been, ‘These kids are not going to college, they’re not leaving our communities, so we better find a way to make them successful or at least involved…because when they’re gone half a day or they’re out in the community half a day and they don’t have a job, those are the kids that are committing crimes. Those are the kids that, you know, end up on our radar screen.”

Saraceno said Heart of Oregon acts as a last resort for students who have been through all the regular and alternative programs their home schools have to offer. “We don’t pull kids out of existing programs,” he said.

The program is currently set up to serve about two dozen students at a time, working in crews of six each. As it happens, during 2003-04 a number of those who came on board early in the program became seniors, and six dropped out before receiving either GEDs or high school diplomas.

They represented six of the 10 dropouts the state officially attributed to Sisters High for the year. Had they not been included, the Sisters number would have been four, giving the school the same 0.8 percent dropout rate it achieved the year before.

Macauley acknowledged that the inclusion of Heart of Oregon students hurts Sisters’ numbers for state and federal accounting purposes. But he said the program should continue. “I think it’s important to our district to continue doing it. We could get caught up in (concern about) the numbers but that would be the wrong thing to do. I still think we should do the right thing even though it kind of hurts our numbers a little bit.”

He noted that, ironically, “those kids transferring into the school district (for Heart of Oregon) actually help the dropout numbers of other districts. We’re taking the highest risk kids.” But he believes that “Heart of Oregon has been a really successful program for us as a school district and I’m really proud to be associated with it.”