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• living in poverty
          • growing up in a dysfunctional family environment
          • lack of positive role models
          • drug or alcohol abuse
          • poor grades
          • poor behavior
          • truancy
          • Alienation from school.

There are many other factors why students drop out of high school, many lack credits to graduate on time, some are aging out, overcrowdings and the list goes on. Some of these factors are associated with school themselves. But being school-related does not mean they are school-caused. This makes the district's efforts to serve at-risk students all the more challenging.
It has been known for many years that young people who do not complete high school face many more problems in later life than people who do graduate. Student nonattendance is a problem that extends much further than the school. It affects the student, the family, and the community.

Absenteeism is damaging to students' achievement, promotion, graduation, self-esteem, and employment potential. Clearly, students who miss school fall behind their peers in the classroom. This, in turn, leads to low self-esteem and increases the likelihood that at-risk students will drop out of school.

Dropout rates are related to a variety of individual and family demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Dropout rates are higher for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, single-parent families, and non-English family backgrounds. Students whose parents or siblings were dropouts are themselves more likely to drop out. The same is true for those who marry and have children before graduating from high school. Undeniably, for many dropouts, these conditions were a part of their lives long before high school.
Furthermore, the rate of engagement in high-risk behaviors such as premature sexual activity, early pregnancy, delinquency, crime, violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide has been found to be significantly higher among dropouts. As the number of dropouts continues to grow, employment opportunities for them are more limited. Today's economy requires of the labor force increased literacy, more education, enhanced technological skills, and lifelong learning.
It is apparent that both school and personal factors play a part in student dropping out of school. The four main reasons are lack of parental support, financial difficulty, individual choices and affect of drugs and alcohol on the students.

High school dropouts are less likely to contribute to the economy through paying taxes, and instead its costing taxpayers money through their need for support through public assistance, subsidized housing, and other programs. Youth who drop out of high school are at very high risk of long-term disconnection with the labor force. They experience long periods of unemployment. These youths need access to high quality alternative education and training opportunities to equip them to compete in today's labor market.

Dropouts tended to believe that they don't have control over their lives, and that something always seemed to stop them from getting ahead. Despite leaving school, most dropouts recognized that they need further education. Further, the career aspirations of many dropouts are high, although some are currently holding low-skill, low-paying, and possibly dead-end jobs, but they do not believe that they were sacrificing their futures when they dropped out.

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