CONFRONTING ONGOING ISSUES DROPOUTS CAREER AND VOCATIONAL/ TECHNICAL EDUCATION Portland students are ready to work. A five-year plan developed by the Portland Public Schools Career and V o c a tio n a l/T e c h n ic a l E ducation Dept. gives Portland graduates the competitive edge they need to take their places as responsible adults. Priority elements in the five-year plan include: • Improvements at Benson Poly technic High School, including - redesigned curricula to better meet labor-m arket needs and prepare students for technical education. The physical plant must be reno vated and the equipment improved to support the curricula. • C o n tin u e d p a r t i c i p a t i o n in Portland Leaders’ R oundtable, a group of business, education and local-governm ent leaders th a t meets regularly to m onitor youth- employment isues. • Exploration of new working rela tionships with business and indus try to identify com panies and facilities where students can gain new and up-to-date competencies. • Satellite academy program s stra tegically located across the school district to attract students from - other attendance areas to excep tionally strong vocational-educa tion programs. • Regional planning and “shared tim e ” a rra n g e m e n ts b etw een P o rtla n d P ublic S chools and Portland Com m unity College to eliminate duplication of course work and cut costs in some expen sive program s. O ther cooperative a g re e m e n ts w ith n eig h b o rin g school districts will make nearby facilities, expertise and equipm ent available to Portland students. TEENAGE PREGNANCY Pregnancy and m otherhood are stressful times for young students facing uncertain futures. W ithout the financial and em o tional resources needed to make it through difficult times, those students and many other teenage parents need support and encouragem ent to stay in school, increase their self-suffi ciency and become better parents. Portland Public Schools’ Teen Parent Program is designed to help those pregnant teenagers and teenage parents. The new program provides day c a re , in sc h o o l s u p p o rt g ro u p s, parenting classes and special outreach services that bring young m others back to school after they've dropped out following the births of their children. The program expands on personal attention and services offered in the school district’s Continuing Educa tion for Girls (CEG), a program providing academic, parenting, health and vocational courses to pregnant teenagers and young mothers. The Teen Parent Program , which began in October 1986, now is located at six Portland high schools and serves some 260 students. An addition to the program is the Infant-Toddler Care Center, which provides daycare services to children of teenage parents. Portland Public Schools’dropout- prevention program , Project Return, has one top priority: 12- to 15-year- olds who cut school. T hose stu d en ts — because of alcohol or drug abuse, disruptive family problems, trouble in making critical moves from middle school to high school or a variety of other reasons — are most “at risk” of becoming dropout statistics. With school district dropout rates nearly 25 percent — a percentage still considered totally unacceptable — Portland Public Schools is battling to bring the dropouts back to school. Project R eturn is leading that battle. M ore than 1,100 Portland School District students were referred by their schools to Project Return coun selors last year. Those counselors worked with students individually to get them back in school or enrolled in alternative programs. Project Return counselors discuss the im portance of school with stu dents and help them develop goals, confidence and self-esteem. They watch for drug or alcohol abuse, visit student homes or workplaces if neces sary and serve as a kind of “resource brokerage” in tying families and students to other service agencies and programs. And Project Return is m aking an impact on dropout statistics. Last year 53 percent of the students referred to Project Return returned to school. That statistic compares favorably to success rates in other p ro g ram s fo r “ a t-ris k ” stu d en ts nationwide. Portland Public Schools is focusing p a rticu la r a tte n tio n on students making the transition between middle school and high school. The dropout rate for ninth-grade students is 29 percent — the largest in any grade level. Last year a special transitional classroom for students aged 12-15 was designed specifically to prepare students for high school. SPECIAL NEEDS Portland continues to recognize and serve the special needs of its changing student population. T h o se e ffo rts ran g e fro m an expanded program for talented and gifted students, to improved pro grams for refugees, to helping teachers serve mildly disabled students in regular classrooms, to tailored help for athletes in the areas of study skills and time management. DAYCARE Portland School District is extend ing the reach of schools to before- and after-school care because of needs expressed by parents. M ore than 1,100 students now are served in program s at 25 Portland schools. Daycare program s for students in kindergarten through Grade 5 are established in cooperation with a school’s principal providing space is available and the needs for such services have been documented. Space is provided by schools with out cost to nonprofit organizations. The school district has developed a list of daycare and other community agencies interested in becoming pro viders so that, when needs are identi fied, resources are available. DRUGS AND ALCOHOL Effective drug-and-alcohol educa tion involves much more than a single unit in a textbook or a class at one grade level. Portland Public Schools follows an ongoing drug-education curricu-