Cleveland, Blackwood to attend school dropout summit

The Cherokee County School District will send two staff members to attend the state's first-ever school dropout summit Dec. 2.

School-to-Work coordinator Dr. Dee Dee Cleveland and middle school coordinator Martha Blackwood will travel to Columbia to participate in a national dropout prevention campaign called "Graduation Matters." The meeting will focus on ways to reduce dropouts and increase the number of students graduating on time.

More than 600 educators are expected to attend the summit at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

Cherokee County is among 10 school districts in the Upstate that participate in the Olde English Consortium education collaborative. Cherokee is among several districts from the consortium that will participate in the school dropout summit.

School dropout prevention efforts are expected to be a topic at the consortium's January meeting in Rock Hill.

The Cherokee County School District had 8.3 percent of its 9,000 students dropout from school during the 2007-2008 school year.

Assistant superintendent Dr. Linda Sellars noted the district's dropout numbers were inflated by the fact some overage students did not return to complete graduation requirements in adult education.

The district opened a $7 million Cherokee Community Learning Center this summer so it would have additional space to serve students in alternative education programs.

"Our district has been involved in a number of efforts over the years to keep kids in school and help them graduate," Sellars said. "We have a number of support programs in place such as the alternative school, parenting programs and adult education geared towards keeping young people in school."