According to a report released today by the California Department of Education, the number of high school students dropping out in Santa Cruz County has increased. The countywide dropout rate jumped to 18.4% in 2008-09, up from 14-percent in 2007-08. The largest increase came from 3 of the high schools in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, where the district’s overall dropout rate shot up over 6-points to 19%. San Lorenzo Valley High School saw it’s dropout rate improve by nearly 3 points, while Santa Cruz City Schools district had a 1-point increase in it’s dropout rate among the 3 schools, Santa Cruz, Harbor and Soquel, meanwhile, Scotts Valley Unified School District, had a total of 4 dropouts in 2008-09, which is 2% of students.
