Summit Seeks Solutions to High School Dropout Rate

Officials say one in four Jefferson County public high school students will drop out of high school. The mayor’s office is joining with JCPS Superintendent Sheldon Berman to host a summit tomorrow to find ways to improve the district’s graduation rate.The national education organization America’s Promise will be part of the day-long conference. President and CEO Marguerite Kondracke says many students drop out because they don’t have access to services they need, such as tutoring."Too many of these young people who are at risk don’t have the basic supports in their lives that many of us take for granted," says Kondracke. "So we suggest communities come together and bring those support services to the school itself."Kondracke says despite the local numbers, Louisville has a better graduation rate than most large cities. The average graduation rate in the country’s largest fifty cities is 50-percent. Twenty years ago, that number was 80-percent.