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The dropout rate in Guilford County climbed slightly during the 2007-08 school year from the previous year, according to state data released Thursday. The state reports Guilford’s 2007-08 rate was 3.31 percent, or about 760 students, up from 2.99 in 2006-07.

Still, Guilford’s dropout rate remains one of the lowest in the state and is the lowest of North Carolina’s three largest school districts.

Statewide, the dropout rate decreased from 5.24 percent during 2006-07 to 4.97 percent during the 2007-08 school year. (Read the state report here.) The State Board of Education estimates 22,434 students dropped out last year.

School board Chairman Alan Duncan echoed the sentiment of several board members, saying while the increase is disappointing, the fact that the rate remains low shows a commitment to the issue.

“We won’t rest until we don’t have dropouts,” Duncan said.

Richard Tuck, who leads the school system’s dropout prevention efforts, said it’s hard to pin down one reason why the dropout rate climbed. The reasons for dropping out vary, with each student dealing with their own particular set of circumstances, he said.

“There is some disconnect with school,” Tuck said. One common issue among students who leave school is a difficulty making social adjustments in school, he said.

Many students are not low-performing students or even behavioral problems, despite popular misconceptions,

About 80 students who left Guilford County schools enrolled in community college diploma programs, Tuck said.

Board member Sandra Alexander praised alternatives like the Twilight School, which offers evening classes, and High School Ahead Academy, which prepares overaged eighth graders for high school, as tools in the battle against dropping out.

“But there’s still work to be done,” she said.

Board member Paul Daniels believes part of that work is setting higher academic standards. “We need to take a serious look at how we’re preparing students in middle school,” he said.

But not everyone agrees with the state data. Many argue the number is much lower than the actual number of dropouts.

“It’s fiction at its greatest,” board member Garth Hébert said. He said a review of the number of eighth graders enrolled in the system compared to the number of 12th graders is an easy measure of how many students drop out.

The dropout rate in the Rockingham County Schools rose slightly from 6.01 percent in 2006-07 to 6.39 percent in 2007-08.

“Rockingham County Schools and the state have a number of efforts under way that are expected to help improve our graduation rate over time,”

Superintendent Rodney Shotwell said. “More than ever before, it’s going to require working together in partnerships — with the families, the faith community, civic organizations and others — to overcome it.”

Terry Worrell, the district’s assistant superintendent for K-12 curriculum and instruction, pointed to several programs the district has to address the problem.

One of those is the Early College High School at Rockingham Community College. “It is a small learning environment where we have very small class sizes and we will never be larger than 400 students,” she said.

Worrell said the Apex Learning program, which allows students to retake courses they’ve failed, is another tool to help potential dropouts. The online program allows students to earn credits, she said.

The district also recently received a $150,000 dropout prevention grant that will go in part toward the Community in Schools program, a national dropout prevention organization, Worrell said.

A student is considered a dropout when they enrolled in a school in the previous year, were not enrolled on the 20th day of school the next year and did not graduate from another school or complete a state accepted program. The dropout rate is not direct correlation to the state graduation rate.

Staff writer Jonnelle Davis contributed to this report.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com