How Well Are East Haven Students Performing?

By Jack Kramer

EAST HAVEN, CT – The Board of Education received a report card on how high school students were doing, number-wise, at its most recent meeting from School Superintendent Dr. Portia Bonner.

Bonner told the board there were currently 3,043 students enrolled at the high school, 57 less than were in the high school last year – continuing a trend of declining enrollment that not only East Haven but many school systems across Connecticut are facing. (To sign up for East Haven breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

Bonner told the board she thought the downward enrollment trend “would continue to decline” in the next few years.

As far as how the students that are enrolled are doing, Bonner offered these numbers:

• the graduation rate is 75.4 percent;
• the chronic absenteeism rate is 10.2 percent;
• the average SAT score was 481 for ELA (English, Language Arts); and 450 for Math;
• the college entrance rate for graduating seniors is 68.1 percent.

East Haven’s college entrance rate seems to be in line, are slightly better than the national average. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of students who graduated from high school who enrolled in college in 2014 was 65.9 percent in 2014, the last year statistics were available.

That national average of 65.9 percent was down from 66.2 percent the previous year and the lowest figure in a decade. The high point came in 2009, when 70.1 percent of new graduates had done on to college.

Bonner was asked by the school board how efforts to fight chronic absenteeism were going. She answered that the 10.2 percent was about a 1 percent improvement over last year’s rate.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 percent of the school year – or about two days per month.