First-ever school dropout prevention summit held

Eight percent of Cherokee County students left their education behind last year without walking across the stage to receive a high school diploma.

Cherokee County school to work coordinator Dr. Dee Dee Cleveland and middle school coordinator Martha Blackwood attended the state's first-ever dropout summit Dec. 2 to learn new ways to reduce a 8.3 percent county dropout rate. Many of the dropouts were older students who chose not to return to complete graduation requirements in high school.

Cleveland and Blackwood were among 900 educators statewide that spent the day attending a summit as part of a national dropout prevention campaign called "Graduation Matters."

The meeting was organized by America's Promise Alliance in the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Similar summits will be held in all 50 states over the next year to find solutions for the country's dropout problem and prepare students for college.

"Anything we can do now to help students stay in school and make them more employable will help our economy," Cleveland said.

Speakers at the dropout summit feel South Carolina needs fewer school dropouts and a higher graduation rate to stay competitive economically. Student dropouts affect schools, businesses, government and communities.

"The nation needs a wake up call to keep our young people in school and help prepare them for college, work and life," said Richard Wells of America's Promise Alliance. "We all pay the price because high school dropouts are more likely to be imprisoned, more likely to be on welfare and more likely to go without health insurance than students who graduate."

AT&T's Aspire initiative was started early this year to provide $100 million nationally for dropout prevention and develop a better educated workforce. At the dropout summit, AT&T state president Pamela Lackey said AT&T's Aspire will donate more than $1 million in South Carolina through grants that will be announced by the end of the year.

Cherokee County was among 10 school districts from the Olde English Consortium that sent representatives to the dropout summit. School dropout prevention efforts are expected to be a topic at the consortium's January meeting in Rock Hill.