BEHS not a "drop-out factory," says school district, principal

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Nora Anton
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  A recent study conducted by John's Hopkins University on high school drop-out rates has caused a stir across the country, even in America's northern-most winter paradise.

The study termed Ben Eielson High School and other schools in the Fairbanks school district "drop-out factories." Drop-out factory is used to describe a school where 60 percent or less of the students finish high school from freshman to senior year, which, according to the study, also applies to more than 10 percent of high schools across America.

The data tracked senior classes for three years in a row, from 2004 to 2006, and concluded that BEHS had a graduation rate of 58 percent.

However shocking this data seems to be, district officials and BEHS's principal are certain the university's statistics are misleading.

"According to a 2004 report that was the basis for this recent study, schools on military bases were not even supposed to be included in the study," said Mario Gatto, BEHS principal. "It is very evident that the researchers did not do their homework prior to labeling our school a dropout factory. This label is inaccurate and irresponsible."

"There were many discrepancies in their study," said Nancy Wagner, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District superintendent. "The researchers did not factor transit rates among students of military parents--or the fact that a new school opened in the district during the study, so all of the students who transferred to that school from others were considered drop-outs."

According to last year's figures from the Alaska Department of Education, BEHS had the highest rate of graduation of any school in the Fairbanks school district with 81 percent, and a drop-out rate of only two percent. The remaining 17 percent account for students who were credit-deficient, and stayed in school another year, or students who decided to pursue independent studies.

"Ben Eielson has a history of high graduation rates and low dropout rates. Our staff, families, district, and community work together to insure students stay in school and are academically successful," said Mr.Gatto.

Nancy Wagner admitted that the district's graduation rates aren't as high as they should be, but definitely should not be considered drop-out factories.

"We're constantly striving for improvement," she said.

The study claimed that of the 40 schools throughout Alaska, seven of those are drop-out factories. Of those seven high schools, three are in the Fairbanks school district; BEHS, Lathrop High School and North Pole High School.

The other four non-Fairbanks school district schools are: Lower Kuskokwim's Bethel Regional, Dillingham City's high school, Matanuska Susitna Borough's Wasilla High and North Slope Borough's Barrow High.

The nation-wide statistics show that Utah is the only state without a drop-out factory. Utah also has lower poverty rates and fewer minorities compared to most states, these are also main factors in the study's results. The highest concentration of drop-out factories is near large cities with many minorities and high-poverty rural areas in the South and Southwest of the country.