Apologizes during interview and takes complete responsibility for the mistake; says Mingus Superintendent was “absolutely correct” when stating the dropout rate used by the Cottonwood-Oak Creek District in the spring was inaccurate

The Blog interviewed Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Superintendent Steve King earlier this week. He had earlier contacted the Blog editor about high school dropout rates in Sedona and the Verde Valley.

The interview by the Blog with Mr. King focused on the issue of an apparent discrepancy between high school dropout estimates used by his staff in two presentations to the Yavapai Community College Governing Board in March and May of this year and those of Mingus Superintendent Mike Westcott. Superintendent Westcott, in a letter to the Blog, put the historic high school dropout rate at from three to seven percent. (See earlier Blog story with Superintendent’s letter explaining dropout rate.) That conflicted with the estimates used by Superintendent King’s staff.

During the interview with the Blog, Superintendent  King made it clear he was apologizing saying it was a mistake to use the 20 to 25 percent dropout rate. He took complete responsibility for the incorrect estimates. He emphasized during the interview that he wanted to correct the public record and let the public know that he agreed with Superintendent Westcott’s dropout rate assessment.

King also noted his concern that while any dropout of high school students is a loss to the community, that the statistics may not reflect the true nature of the educational issues facing the community.  Regardless, he said that Superintendent Westcott was “absolutely correct” when he commented that the numbers used by the Cottonwood-Oak Creed District when making the dropout estimates were not accurate.