Dropout back out of school, hopes to join Army

Tuesday, March 6, 2007 | 7:04 a.m.

Dustin Edwards, profiled in the Sun on Saturday for his roller-coaster ride through high school, has decided to drop out - again - and join the Army.

His mother, Tammy Edwards, said Monday that Dustin, who turns 18 in August, will seek a General Educational Development certificate - sufficient to meet Army education requirements. Just a week ago Dustin, who has a history of dropping in and out of school, had promised the Clark County School District to buckle under and set his sights on earning a conventional high school degree in order to enlist in the Marine Corps.

Officials said they bent over backward to accommodate him. For his part, Dustin agreed to attend school from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., an unquestionably tough regimen, to complete the 22 classes he needed to graduate by his goal of next winter.

But Dustin attended only one day of school last week. His mother said he was sick with the flu. On Friday, when the story left off, school officials didn't know what to make of the teenager's absence, or of his future.

Dustin showed for classes on Saturday, only to have the principal rebuke him, saying it was now too late. When Dustin protested and the principal relented and said Dustin could attend but would not receive academic credit for the quarter, which has only three weeks remaining.

Dustin's mother said there was no point in him going to school every day if he wasn't going to earn credit for the work.

"I'm very upset about this," Edwards said. "I guess it's easier for the school to let him go than to work with him."

But Edward Goldman, associate superintendent of education services, said the principal's stance was correct because Dustin has exceeded the allowable number of absences for the quarter and would be unable to make up the missing work.

Goldman said he hoped Dustin would change his mind and keep his promise of a week ago to stay in school. "He gave me his word and I expect him to keep it," Goldman said.

Dustin's struggles reflect some of the challenges facing the Clark County School District in addressing its dropout problem, Goldman said.

"We're not going to shut out a kid who wants to learn," he said. "But it's a 50-50 proposition. They have to do their part."