NEWS RELEASE -- SD Unified's Graduation Rates Continue Improvement; Most Dropout Rates Decline

NEWS RELEASE from the San Diego Unified School District, April 10, 2013

SD UNIFIED'S GRADUATION RATES CONTINUE IMPROVEMENT; MOST DROPOUT RATES
DECLINE
District still has lowest dropout rate among California's largest school
districts

SAN DIEGO -- A three-year trend of increasing graduation rates has
continued for the San Diego Unified School District, which had 86.9
percent of its students graduate in 2012, an increase of 1.6 percent over
2011 and 4.7 from 2010, according to data released April 9 by the
California Department of Education. San Diego Unified leads the San Diego
County average by 8.4 percentage points.

Only one large school district in California had a higher graduation rate
than San Diego Unified's 86.9 percent: Garden Grove with 87.8. Other large
districts ranged from San Francisco's 82.2 to Oakland's 73.2. San Diego
Unified's overall dropout rate of 6.2 percent was the lowest among the
nine other large urban largest districts in California, with San Francisco
the next lowest at 10 percent.

"This continued improvement means that our district, and most importantly
our students, are on the right path," said Superintendent Bill Kowba. "To
have a nearly five percent jump in just three years shows the outstanding
work done every day by everyone in the San Diego Unified School District."

Across San Diego County, the graduation rate is 78.4 percent with a
dropout rate of 10.4 percent, 4.2 percentage points above the county's
largest school district. The statistics report the overall graduation
rate, which is the number of students attending in ninth grade who get a
diploma. The dropout rate is the number of students entering grade 12 but
fail to graduate.

³Attendance figures build on each other," said Kowba. "If the kids are
coming to school day in and day out at every grade level and keep moving
up the ladder and don¹t let up on that emphasis, I think we¹re in a great
place.²

Since 2007, reducing the dropout rate has been one of the district's top
priorities, not only focusing on high school seniors, but starting early
-- as early as sixth grade. Studies show that student who miss 10 days or
more in sixth grade have a higher high school dropout rate than their
classmates who miss fewer days.

"Even with these outstanding overall numbers, the statistics show we were
unable to make an impact on Hispanic students last year," said Kowba.

Among Hispanics, while the dropout rate was unchanged at 9.9 percent, the
graduation rate rose to 80.2 percent from 78 percent. Among other large
ethnic groups, African Americans' dropout rate declined to 7 percent from
7.7 percent and the graduation rate increased to 83.9 from 81.8 in 2011
and 76.9 in 2010.

Programs such as graduation coaches, credit recovery, providing more
options for high school students on campus have been instrumental in
improving the graduation rate, said Kowba. In 2012, state Superintendent
of Schools Tom Torlakson called San Diego Unified a "model of attendance
improvement."

To look up specific schools, go to the California Department of Education
website at http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/

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Jack Brandais | Communications Department | San Diego Unified School
District | (619) 725-5570 (Desk) | (619) 607-0477 (Cell)

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