School Drop-Out Rates Could Be Misleading

According to Baldwin County school administrators, 75 to 80 percent of high school students will graduate.

But school officials admit those numbers could be higher or lower.

Several factors-including tracking students who have moved- come into play. A student transferring to another school in another state before graduating locally could be tagged a "drop-out" in some cases...generating inaccurate graduation percentages.

But at Baldwin County High School in Bay Minette, school drop-out rates are on the decline.

Administrators credit the "Digital Renaissance" - a decision to arm every students with a laptop computer- for keeping kids in school.

in 2016, a new, user-friendly "formula" to compute graduation/drop-out rates will be rolled out statewide. But until that happens, school leaders say collecting data will be difficult.