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# District’s drop-out figures inflated by faulty information
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/districts-drop-out-figures-inflated-by-faulty-information/
- Published: 2008-07-21T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:14:16.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import

*Intervention programs help keep drop-out rates down*

SMMUSD HDQTRS Statewide public school drop-out data released last week by the Department of Education included incorrect figures about the situation in Santa Monica and Malibu, inflating the rate in a district that prides itself on its academic reputation.

The statistics, based on the 2006-07 year, indicated that the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District saw a student drop-out rate of 24.3 percent, including 23.9 percent at Santa Monica High School and 73.8 percent at Olympic High School where pupils attend to catch up on credits needed to graduate.

The numbers overstate the actual picture and the problem could be attributed to complications in translating district information to the state, according to Chief Academic Officer Sally Chou.

“We’re working to make sure the data are reflecting the actual drop-out rates,”Chou said.

This year’s report marks a shift in the data-gathering methodology used by the Department of Education, utilizing the Statewide Student Identifier (SSID), which tracks each student’s course through school, distinguishing the actual drop outs from the ones who transfer to another institution or leave the state. Previous numbers were based on a reported aggregate count of students who had left school, leaving out information as to whether the student had moved onto private school or just given up.

The issue that caused the mix-up in SMMUSD was in the exit codes for the students, which identify when they left and why, Chou said.

“The problem is in the translation of our codes to their codes,” Chou said.

The district will have until Aug. 29 to submit the correction.

Karl Scheff, the education research and evaluation administrator with the Department of Education, said it is the various districts’ responsibilities to provide accurate information and certify it.

“There is a process for them to preview that data and certify it,” Scheff said.

Several other districts have reported similar problems.

“It’s a relatively complicated process and some school districts are having trouble understanding all the implications,” Scheff said. “There are questions of data that perhaps should be expected in the first year of implementation.”

District officials said they aren’t sure what the actual drop-out rate is in Santa Monica and Malibu but believe it is drastically lower than what was stated in the report.

Regardless, the goal is to bring that figure down to zero.

The district offers a number of intervention programs offered at the high schools, paid for through a dedicated fund in the budget.

There are also a number of programs dedicated to credit recovery so that students can catch up, including the adult night school and at Santa Monica College.

“We try to give them every opportunity to make up so they don’t feel like they have to make the decision to drop out,” she said.

Perhaps the most pressing stage in keeping a student in the district takes place at Olympic, the only continuation high school in Santa Monica and Malibu.

Many students arrive at the school feeling angry, upset that they are being moved from Samohi, according to Janie Gates, the principal at Olympic. The challenge is to stay on top of the new students during their first half year at the school, making sure they’re staying focus and not entertaining thoughts of quitting. Every teacher at the school also acts as a counselor, calling their students at home when they begin noticing troubling behavior, including not attending class.

One of the ways in which this is achieved is by offering electives that are unique to Olympic, including jewelry making and a course on the music business.

“They get hooked on an activity they enjoy,” Gates said. “When they’re captivated, they’re more willing to work on math and other things.”

The school will offer a course on building construction starting in the fall.

“We really work hard to keep the students in school,” Gates said. “Even if they dropped out before, we always take them back in.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 21, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/072108.pdf?ref=smdp.com)