April 29, 1987, Portland Observer, Page 3 M i n o r i t y S t u d e n t s D r a m a t ic D e c lin e s In M inority students posted dram atic reductions in high school drop out (»ercentages last year, compared to overall districtw ide averages for Port land Public Schools released this week Porter Sexton, manager o f management inform ation services for the school district said only 6 0 percent 1,21 students) o f blacks and 6 9 per cent 1,8» o f Hispanics were "i arty leavers" in 1985 86 That compares to 7.1 percent (1431 of black students and 10 4 percent (1671 of Hispanic students dropping out of high school in 1984 85 The 1979 80 percentages were ,2 4 percent for blacks 16 7 percent for His panics. Portland's 10 high schools enrolled 14,717 students in 1985 86 14 828 in 1984 85 Last ye a rs districtw ide d ro p o u t rate was 7 3 percent 11,0731 w ith a male female ratio of 605 468 compared to 586 403 in 1984 85 Portland Public Schools districtw ide averages have sustained annual drop out rates of below 7 5 percent for the past four years, compared to 9 10 percent averages when formal statistics were first com piled in 1977 78 The drop out rate is calculated by counting enrolled students w ho leave school and do not return during the academic year Such students, according to Sexton, may enroll in com m unity colleges in private or alternative schools or programs, may return later to high school oi may drop out entirely from formal education D r o p - O u t R a te s W itnesses W anted Portland's American Indian students, who traditionally have the highest drop out rates (21 5 percent in 1978 791 posted only ,3 0 percent (31) in 1985 86 a drop from 14 5 percent (341 in ,984 85 Asian students posted a ,985 86 drop out rate of 5 1 percent (721. com pared to 5 0 percent (731 in ,984 85 Non m inority students in 1985 86 posted ,i 7 7 pe rcen t 18311 early leaver fate, compared to 7 3 percent (7931 in 1984 85 By co m p a riso n , na tion al d ro p o u t rates for m in o ritie s are generally one th ird high er tha n averages fo r non m in o rity stud ents, a c c o rd in g to S exton S e xto n said d ra m atic re d u ctio n s in m in o rity d ro p o u t pe rcen ta ge s were due to p ro g ra m s such js Je ffe rs o n High S c h o o l's P rotect Pride G rant High Si ho of ■ P ortla nd N ig ,it S chool and the d is tric tw id e em phasis on early pre p a ra tio n and re m e d ia tio n for strin g e n t basic skills req uire d to gra du ate fro m high scho ol A d d itio n a l p ro g ra m s i redded by Sexton w ere the Indian E ducation Pro Its t and oth er eq uity e ffo rts fo cu se d on m in o rity stu d e n ts S om e 11 pe rce n t o f fem ale d ro p o u ts q u it hig h scho ol because o , preq nancy. S exto n said th e in tro d u c tio n o f teen he alth clin ics at fou r high sch o o ls and exp an sion of the scho ol d is tric t s C o n tin u in g Edui a tio n for Girls p ro g ra m w ill tirin g fu rth e r re d u ctio n s in d ro p o u t rates for such stu de nts W itnesses to incident on 3-31-86, 9:45 a.m . at 15th and Fremont when elderly lady caught arm in door w hile boarding Tri Met bus No. 8 Call Marcia at: 226-6361 The G o ld e n Rule B e a u ty S alon Tues. Spec Complete Beauty Service 412 N E Alberta Open Tues Sat Mary Pant 281 7063 ¥)u work an honest day... you get an honest deal at SAFEW AY. C ongressional H oop S hots SAFEWAY 1 Representative Ron W yden ID), 3rd District, created a lot o f interest recently at his free basketball clinic held at Brooklyn C om m unity School The April 15th event a ttra c ­ ted numerous potential hoop "g re a ts " including Al Daniels, Jr., an 8th grader at Floyd Light Middle School. Young Daniels enjoyed the clinic but enjoyed meeting Cong W yden even more. «V L-»* - i« ’