District to boost grad rate

The administration and board of Grand Coulee Dam School District have set their sights on improving the graduation rate of Lake Roosevelt seniors.

Under the district’s policy “Accountability Goals” the graduate rate objective is 85 percent.

Superintendent Paul Turner said last week that the policy is outdated and that the board is waiting for information from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to update the policy.

“The goal won’t change, but our goal is always 100 percent,” he said.

The graduation rate of the 2015-16 class at Lake Roosevelt Junior Senior High School was 61.2 percent, with the statewide average for that year at 78.1 percent, Turner said.

The graduation average for 2014-15 at LR was 70.5 percent, compared to a 77.2-percent state average. In the 2013-14, LRHS had a 70.2-percent rate while the state average was 76 percent.

Students entering high school in their freshman year are assigned a number and are tracked through the state, regardless of where they are at the time.

The school district uses two tools through the state’s Alternative Learning Experience program (ALE). One tool is its credit retrieval program, under supervision, where students can get their grades up to par. When they do, students return to the mainstream, and take up regular classroom work.

The second tool is a full alternative program, computer-based, under teacher Brenda Mouzon.

In that program students can proceed at their own rate and receive credit as they complete their computer classes.

“We are focusing on these programs in an effort not only to reach our goal, but to exceed it,” Turner stated.

The highest graduation rate at Lake Roosevelt in recent years was the 2012-13 class that had a 75-percent rate. The state rate that year was 77.2 percent.