OXNARD : School Dropout Rate at 8-Year High

About 4% of the students in the Oxnard Union High School District dropped out last year, the highest percentage in eight years, district administrators said Tuesday.

A total of 505 students left the 12,300-pupil district during the 1994-95 school year, said Rafael Gonzales, director of instructional support services. Gonzales attributed the high dropout rate to the increasing number of students in alternative education programs who fail to complete the school year.

Those programs include Independent Study and the Puente Program, a small-group learning center for students who have had problems at mainstream schools, he said.

About 43% of the dropouts were in those programs, Gonzales said.

Despite last year’s rise, the school district’s dropout rate is still below the state average of 4.9%, Gonzales said. Most of Oxnard’s dropouts said they left school because they were so far behind in credits, Gonzales said.

Other reasons given in a survey of dropouts include pregnancy, financial problems and a dislike of school, he said.

District officials are considering several measures to reverse the upward spiral, including making it more difficult for students to enroll in alternative education programs, he said.

Oxnard’s dropout rate has remained relatively low for the past eight years, ranging from 2.7% in the 1987-89 school year to 3.7% in 1992-93, Gonzales said.