While we’re sure that Gilroy Unified School District
administrators would agree that when it comes to high school drop
outs, any is too many, we were surprised and heartened by the sharp
fall in dropout rates GUSD posted last school year.
While we’re sure that Gilroy Unified School District administrators would agree that when it comes to high school drop outs, any is too many, we were surprised and heartened by the sharp fall in dropout rates GUSD posted last school year.
Just 11 students – less than one-half of 1 percent – dropped out of high school in Gilroy last year. That’s a remarkably low number, especially considering that the district’s dropout rate last year was 2 percent, and the rate was nearly 9 percent just eight short years ago.
GUSD Superintendent Edwin Diaz wisely credited a number of factors for the sharp decline the district posted.
“This speaks well of the alternative programs in the district like Mt. Madonna High School, Community Day School and El Portal,” Diaz told reporter Eric Leins. “It shows we’re keeping better track of our students and that we’re giving them options.”
And options are just what our students need. Whether they’re dealing with dyslexia, struggling to master English, gifted and craving challenge, or economically disadvantaged and wondering where they’ll find their next meal before they can worry about school work, our schools are required to find the best ways to educate Gilroy’s diverse population.
It’s a nearly superhuman feat we demand of public schools: to educate our far-from-homogeneous student population and to meet their widely varied needs.
We’re proud of this evidence that GUSD administrators, faculty, staff, volunteers and students are meeting that challenge so well.
If you agree with statesman Edward Everett that “Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army,” and if you concur with author Victor Hugo that “He who opens a school door closes a prison,” then you’ll agree that it’s hard to overstate the importance of the decline in GUSD’s dropout rate.
The achievement represents a priceless investment in the futures of at-risk students who stayed in school and the overall well-being of our community.
Congratulations to everyone who helped to keep Gilroy’s adolescents in school. And more importantly, congratulations to those students who made the choice to stay in school. It takes courage to shun the easy way out, to deny the immediate, though short term, rewards of a full-time job.
Gilroy schools have become more welcoming in the last few years, more determined to find solutions for all students. The drop in the dropout rate is just one more example that our community is on the right track. Well done all.
