Students tell Berkley of problems staying in school

Terry Webster

Thursday, Feb. 22, 2001 | 11:24 a.m.

Teenage pregnancy, proficiency exams -- and even smoking -- are some of the reasons students drop out of school, a discussion at Rancho High School revealed Wednesday.

The comments, made by students and school staffers, were aired during a meeting with Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who recently introduced a bill to establish an office for dropout prevention. While the office would be based in Clark County, the data gathered would be used to address dropout problems nationwide.

Student Santos Delasantos said some students end up exiting school because they get caught smoking or continuously get into trouble.

"Some people make friends and they become a bad influence because they use drugs or smoke," he said.

Tamar Fidelman, an English-as-a-Second-Language teacher at Rancho, said teen pregnancy is one of the biggest contributing factors to dropouts.

"Proficiency exams are becoming a problem with dropouts, along with child care," said Fidelman. "Students don't have a means to stay in school without it."

The exams are particularly troubling to students who arrive from other countries without a command of the English Language, she said. Some of the students have only been here for a few years and haven't fully learned English. Then, she said, they are expected to pass the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam and earn a diploma.

"None of us became proficient in English in five years," Fidelman said.

Another issue is that budget restrictions have caused a reduction in day-care services at Rancho, Fidelman said.

Although some believe a teenage pregnancy is a personal issue and not a school issue, Fidelman pointed out that the cost society pays to support welfare or prison programs is greater than providing day care.

"Why not give the student a chance so she can get an education and go on to a better life?" she said.

Rancho Principal Paul Garbiso said the school now can serve approximately eight children in day care, opposed to 20 last year.

"We're doing a little, but we could be doing much more," he said. "We just don't have the dollars."

Berkley's bill calls for a model school dropout prevention program to study successful programs at elementary, middle and high schools. The information would be kept by a national clearinghouse for use by school districts throughout the nation.

The Clark County School District, now the sixth largest in the nation, has historically had one of the highest dropout and teen pregnancy rates in the country.