Pinellas tackles high school dropout rate

ST. PETERSBURG - It's a frightening statistic: one in five Pinellas County students never gets a high school diploma. The numbers are even worse for minorities.

Now the Pinellas School system is launching another wave of dropout prevention programs.

The first wave came about four years, when one out of three kids did not get that diploma.

So the current 80 percent graduation rate is actually quite an improvement. But over the next couple of years, there will be changing uses for high schools, and sleeping in might become an option for some students.

Classes starting at 1 in the afternoon are high on a list of new initiatives to lower Pinellas' dropout rate.

Officials say some students work nights, and the traditional 7a.m. bell is brutal.

"We want to be able to provide options for them through flexible scheduling," explains area superintendent Catherine Fleeger.

"By doing that [1pm classes] we think we'll lose fewer students," Fleeger said.

Bayside High School, with its mid-county location, might be the first to offer afternoon classes.

Bayside might also offer summer classes for students who fell behind during the regular year and other programs for students needing additional help.