One Northeast Mississippi school district had its dropout rate go to zero, but 20 others saw their rates worsen for the Class of 2008.

Among the districts with higher rates were Tupelo and Lee County.

The mixed news for Northeast Mississippi districts came Monday as the Mississippi State Department of Education released dropout and graduation statistics for students who started ninth grade in 2004-2005.

For Chickasaw County School District,the Class of 2008 represents a banner year. Every student finished with either a regular diploma, a special education certificate or a GED through the district's in-school program.

"I think we're the only district in the state to do that," said Superintendent Kathy Young Davis. "We made changes five years ago, and I think it's paid off."

With a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, Houlka Attendance Center added a program to help kids who were falling behind in middle school, Davis said. The district also created an in-school GED program for students who were so far behind that it was unlikely they would graduate with a traditional diploma.

"You can't afford to let a child walk away empty-handed any more," Davis said.

At the state level, the dropout level stayed basically the same, going from 15.9 percent for students who graduated in 2007 to 16 percent for the Class of 2008.

Nearly 600 more students around the state graduated with regular diplomas, but the larger Class of 2008 had a slightly lower graduation rate - 72 percent compared to 73.5 percent for the Class of 2007

Mississippi is one of 17 states that uses the National Governors Association's method to calculate graduation and dropout rates. The education department has made dropout prevention a central focus, with a high profile On The Bus campaign and high school redesign program. A statewide dropout prevention conference is set for April 16.

Beating the state average

Even though two-thirds of Northeast Mississippi schools saw their dropout rates worsen, 17 districts still beat the state average.

Itawamba County Schools dropped from 17.5 percent for the Class of 2007 to 13.4 percent for the Class of 2008.

"We think we're chipping away at it," said Itawamba County Superintendent Teresa McNeese. "We've implemented just about everything in our dropout prevention plan besides credit recovery."

An in-school GED program is helping students who would otherwise drop out because they are so far behind, McNeese said. A new Fast Track program is aimed at helping failing middle school students get to the 9th grade on-time.

The district's next step is to work with the state or develop its own program to help high school students retake the portion of a course they failed and recover the credit without having to retake an entire course, McNeese said.

"It's baby steps," she said.

The Corinth School District's dropout rate stayed well below the state average. It was 11.4 percent for the Class of 2008, but that's almost double the rate of the two previous years.

"It's certainly not where we want it to be," said Corinth Superintendent Lee Childress.

Part of the increase may be the small class size, where a few students can make a big difference in statistics. But the district has intervention services and tutorial programs to try to get kids on track.

A new program is in the works to help children during the summer before kindergarten.

"We've got to address things earlier than high school," Childress said.

In Tupelo and Lee County

Both Tupelo and Lee County school districts saw their dropout rates worsen for the Class of 2008 after improving for the Class of 2007. Both districts have rates higher than the state average.

Tupelo's rate rose from 16.3 percent to 19.7 percent. Public Schools Superintendent Randy McCoy said the district expected to do better this year, because enrollment numbers show they are keeping more students in school.

"We're disappointed that our numbers didn't reflect that," McCoy said. "We're anticipating next year, we'll trend back down."

A lot of effort is going to helping students at risk for dropping out, from those who are starting to miss a lot of school to ninth graders who need a helping hand academically.

"We're identifying the children who tend to be struggling," McCoy said.

For Lee County Schools, the dropout rate jumped to 22.7 percent for the Class of 2008 from 18.2 percent for the Class of 2007.

Lee Count staff is still analyzing the data, but Superintendent Mike Scott said he was particularly struck by high numbers for special education and black males.

"All students concern me, but those numbers were too high," Scott said. "We're going to dig into why our numbers are as high as they are."

In addition to programs at the high school level, the district has put an intensive focus on reading in the elementary and middle schools.

"The fruit of those programs is probably four or five years away," Scott said.

Contact Michaela Gibson Morris at (662) 678-1599 or michaela.morris@djournal.com.