Dropout rates plummet in Dothan City Schools

By: Jim Cook | Dothan Eagle
Published: February 14, 2012

In a dramatic turnaround, the Dothan City Schools have gone from having one of the highest drop out rates in the state to one of the lowest.

The Alabama Department of Education recently released numbers showing that the city school system had the third lowest dropout rate in the state for 2010-2011.

For the 2010-2011 school year, the city schools had only three dropouts. In 2008-2009, the school system had 124 dropouts, one of the highest drop out rates in the state.

“We were at the bottom of the bunch,” Julie Mullins-Turner, city schools improvement specialist, said regarding the dropout rate.

The dropout rate reflects students who leave school without a diploma and do not earn a GED. The graduation rate reflects students who earn a diploma within four years of entering high school. Students who take more time to earn a diploma or who earn a GED are not counted as having graduated.

“It’s a more comprehensive view,” Mullins-Turner said.

Allyson Morgan, secondary curriculum director, said the reduction in the dropout rate could be attributed to several factors. The Alabama Legislature passed a law in 2008 raising the minimum age to drop out from 15 to 17. The city school system also opened a center allowing students who have failed classes to try them again and earn the lost credit. Morgan said the system is also tracking student data better, which has helped the rate, and is also doing more to persuade struggling students to remain in school.

“We make it really hard just to walk away from school,” Morgan said.