KENANSVILLE — Students in Duplin County are staying in school. That fact is based on information from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, which recently released dropout rates for 2007-08. In all, there were 151 Duplin County students who dropped out of school during that year, a decrease of 10 students from the year before.

The state had an average of 4.97 percent of students dropping out last year; Duplin’s percent was at 3.91.

“As you can see, our dropout rate went down,” said assistant superintendent Cary Powers. “Looking at the school systems around us, it is better than some and worse than others. The important thing is we want to reduce that dropout rate as low as we can.”

The rate is still higher than the school system would like, said Powers.

“Any time one student drops out, it’s one too many. It certainly doesn’t make me feel good that we have dropouts.”

Powers did not point to one particular reason for those 151 students to leave school. The total student population last year was roughly 3,862 students. Comprising the 151, were 85 males and 66 females. According to statistics, 53 were white, 52 were African-American and 45 were Hispanic.

The state experienced a dropout rate decrease, with 1,116 fewer quitting school.

But lower dropout rates don’t mean Duplin educators are slowing down on efforts to keep students in school. Quite the contrary.

“As a school system, the one way we can keep kids in school is to make sure the cirrculam is engaging,” said Powers. “It is common sense that if kids enjoy school and want to be in school and see value in it, they will stay in school. It’s like anything else sometimes you don’t like it but if you see long term value in it, you stick with it.”

Public education should be relevant to students, said Powers, not just in Duplin County but nationally.

“One dropout is one dropout too many,” added the assistant superintendent. But to help curb the rate, programs like “Twilight” are in place to help students obtain their diplomas. Twilight is designed for students who have not been successful in school. The program is a virtual high school using computers online. Last year, there were 14 students who graduated through that program.

High School director Ben Thigpen, in a prepared statement, said, “A chief concern in addressing the dropout rate in Duplin County is providing intervention to students who lag behind or fail course work.”

Many programs are in place for students, opportunities range from Behavior and Saturday Academies, two Boys and Girls clubs, gang prevention awareness, and Child and Family Support teams.

Michael Connolly can be reached at (910) 592-8137 ext. 120 or can be emailed at sicity@intrstar.net.