(Spirit Lake)– The drop-out rate for the Spirit Lake school district and others in the area is about to go up. And officials say the Federal Government’s “No Child Left Behind Act” is atleast partially to blame.
Superintendent Tim Grieves brought the issue to the attention of the Spirit Lake school board at their regular monthly meeting Monday evening. Grieves says a state ruling, stemming from the federal act, means alternative high schools must require the same number of credits as the traditional high school from which a student comes from. It also prevents community colleges, such as Iowa Lakes Community College which operates the Blue Water Alternative High School, from issuing high school diplomas. Instead, they can only issue adult equivalent diplomas.
Grieves says the timing of the ruling is also an issue, as it came very close to the end of the school year.
The Spirit Lake High School has six seniors enrolled in the program. Due to the new mandates, Grieves says the district will probably be forced to classify them as drop outs.
He says the situation is similar for other schools in the area that have students enrolled in the Blue Water Alternative High School. Other community colleges in the state offer similar alternative classes that had been operating under the same guidelines as Blue Water.
The Blue Water Alternative High School has been in existence about 10 years. Representatives of Blue Water say they’re looking into possible solutions to meet the new mandates.
