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Dropout rates continued a five-year decline in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and statewide, according to a new state report.
Last year just over 3 percent of high school students in CMS and North Carolina dropped out of school. Statewide, 81 of 115 districts saw their dropout rate decline from the previous year.
The report cites CMS and Gaston County as leading the state for reductions in dropout rates over the past three years.
In 2007, CMS logged a one-year dropout rate of 6.4 percent. It has declined every year since, hitting 3.2 percent in 2012.
Gaston County’s rate has gone from 5.7 percent in 2008 to 3.4 percent in 2012.
Across North Carolina, dropout rates are highest for African-American, Hispanic and Native American males. They are lowest for Asian males and females.
Dropout rates tally the number of students who leave school during the year, including those who enroll in a community college diploma program.
The state also reports graduation rates by tracking the percentage of students who enter as freshmen and graduate four years later.
As expected, graduation rates have been rising as dropout rates decline. Last year 76 percent of CMS students and 80 percent of N.C. students graduated in four years.
Students who take more than four years to graduate don’t show up in dropout reports but don’t count toward on-time graduation rates.
