On Jan. 14, an article posted on the Gazetteís website stated that El Paso County Colorado School District 49 saw a graduation rate decline of 7.6 percent, bringing the overall rate to 48.5 percent. The data was compiled from the Colorado Department of Education, according to the article.Amber Whetstine, executive director of learning services for D 49, said those statistics only account for students who graduate in four years, and the district has a considerable population of alternative education students who take more than four years to graduate.ìIn order to attend an alternative education campus, students typically have to have a high-risk indicator, which is different from an at-risk indicator,î she said.According to the CDEís website, at-risk students are either students who are eligible to receive free or reduced-cost lunch or who have performed at a low or unsatisfactory proficiency level on a statewide assessment.The CDE website defines a high-risk student as one who meets one or more of the following conditions: juvenile delinquency; school dropouts; expelled students; history of personal drug or alcohol use; history of personal street gang involvement; history of child abuse or neglect/foster care; has a parent or guardian in prison; has an individualized education plan; family history of domestic violence; repeated school suspensions; pregnant or parenting; migrant child; homeless child; history of serious psychiatric or behavioral disorder; and over-age/under-credited.Alternative education campuses are schools that specifically cater to high-risk students and have specialized missions, nontraditional methods of instruction and serve students with severe limitations, the CDE website states. At least 90 percent of the student body of an AEC must be high-risk, according to the website.D 49 has two AEC high school options: Patriot High School and GOAL (Guided Online Academic Learning) Academy, Whetstine said. GOAL Academy alone is the largest alternative education campus high school in Colorado and that population makes up more than 50 percent of the entire D 49 district, she said.ìGOALís four-year graduation rate (students who graduated in four years) this year was 19.22 percent,î Whetstine said. ìThat number impacts the district overall.îHigh-risk students are typically behind on the credits they have achieved and are not likely to graduate in four years, Whetstine said. However, there are other factors that may result in a student taking more than four years to graduate, she said.ìSome students who qualify for IEPs are required by law to continue school until they are 21 years old,î she said. Many more students are participating in D 49ís ASCENT program and concurrent enrollment at the three traditional high schools, which allows students to earn their associates degree or get college credit before they get their high school diploma, Whetstine said.According to the D 49 website, the ASCENT program is an additional year of concurrent enrollment for qualified 12th grade students after their 12th grade year. ìConcurrent enrollment is a chance for qualified high school students to take college courses while in high school and receive both high school and college credit toward professional certificates, 2-year degrees, and transfer to 4-year universities.îWhetstine said going strictly from the graduation rates of the three traditional high schools in D 49 ñ- Falcon, Sand Creek and Vista Ridge ñ- the four-year rates are 89.97 percent, 83.33 percent and 88.64 percent, respectively.However, the CDE allows schools to take the best graduation rate from students who graduated either in four, five, six or seven years for accountability purposes, which determine official accreditations rates for each district, she said. ìFor example, Vista Ridgeís four-year rate is 89.5 percent, the five-year rate is 95.8 percent, the six-year rate is 95.6 and the seven-year rate is 94.7 percent,î Whetstine said. The best rate of those four years is the five-year rate and that is the one the CDE uses, she said.In the best-of-the-four-rates scenario, the graduation rates are 98.3 percent for FHS, 93.7 percent for SCHS and 95.8 percent for VRHS, Whetstine said.ìOur accountability ratings from the state exclude GOAL and Patriot High School,î she said. ìThe CDE gives us data with and without those schools because we care about both sets of data and are always working to improve, but we also recognize that this is something that can be confusing for the community if they are not familiar with our unique portfolio of schools.îGraduation requirements for Colorado students are significantly changing, beginning with the graduating class of 2021, to allow for flexibility for students to graduate early and demonstrate they are ready for a career or college, or to extend their high school career to earn college credits and certifications, Whetstine said.ìThe four-year graduation rate is something we look at but we also recognize some students graduate in three years and some in five years,î she said. ìThe new requirements are the stateís recognition that, across Colorado, studentsí needs are different.î
