DROPOUT RATE CONCERNS WOODLAND SCHOOL CHIEF (RATING OUR SCHOOLS, TWELFTH IN A 13-PART SERIES)

WOODLAND -- One of the first things new Superintendent Bill Biggerstaff noticed while developing the Woodland schools annual profile was the district dropout rate.

The district recorded a 15.4 percent dropout rate for the 1998-99 school year, a number so high it appeared erroneous. In fact, the dropout rate is nearly three times the 5.4 percent state average. It increased 2 percent from the previous year, 50 percent since the 1995-96 school year.

"It's kind of hard for me to believe our daily attendance is that good, our ACT is that good, our MAP score is that good, but our dropout rate is that bad," said Biggerstaff, who became superintendent July 1.Biggerstaff said he doubts the accuracy of the figures. He plans to work with high school administrators and counselors to ensure data are being recorded properly.

If the data are accurate, curriculum and other issues will have to be addressed to see a dramatic decrease in those numbers as early as next year."I'm not sure our district has been re-entering those students who return to school," he said. "That would make a difference. I do know that it's doubled over the last three years, and if that's the case we'd have to see if we could develop a pattern for change."

Outside of the dropout rate, Biggerstaff said district patrons have much to be proud of.

Students performed well on the ACT exam, which demonstrates they are getting a quality education, he said. The district also has a good average daily attendance and a number of veteran teachers working in the schools. "Those are our areas of strength," Biggerstaff said.

Although the student-to-classroom teacher ratio is 20-to-1, just over the state average, Biggerstaff said school officials have worked diligently to reduce that ratio in recent years. In 1994-95, there were 25 students to each classroom teacher, and that ratio had declined annually until last year.

"I believe that's going to go down because we've utilized a federal grant to hire more staff," he said.