Some Trenton-Grosse Ile Patch users are calling a recent drop in graduation rates at Trenton High School "atrocious" and "alarming."

The four-year graduation rates for students at Trenton High School decreased from 96.28 percent in 2011 to 92.44 percent in 2012, according to data released Wednesday by the Michigan Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI).

Trenton High School dropout rates increased from 1.65 percent in 2011 to 2.94 in 2012.

Users commented on a recent story informing residents of the change in graduation and dropout rates.

Here are some user comments:

• Ian: I can't imagine it going up with the class of '13. We have had the lowest average ACT scores of recent classes: 19. That is just absolutely atrocious. It means that there were a number of people that scored well below that point to even out the 24s, 28s, 32s, and 34s I have seen. It really can't be placed on the teachers. It's not their fault so many of the students are beer drinking, pot smoking, tobacco chewing specimens of indolence. Albeit some of the teachers do less teaching than others, the core classes are well covered and comprehensive.
  The people that drop out almost always have something that separates them from the rest of the student body though, and usually it isn't because they are bad, or even lazy, but because they have found themselves in a bad situation they cannot control. It is that they are not helped, cannot be helped, and no longer feel like there is any hope of help that it ends badly. They are stuck in this situation, and it simply perpetuates. It's saddest when you can clearly pick out who they are. But for the class of '13, it's too late for those people now.
• Amy Lutz-Mathias: Sorry, but teachers need to teach EVERYONE, the shy, the outspoken, the hyper, the lazy...it's their responsibility to atleast attempt to get through to all their students. You cannot put everyone on meds and just teach zombies, which some teachers prefer.
  Also, I wonder when counselors quit counseling? My daughter's grandfather died, she took it very hard as they were extremely close. The counselor called her down to his office to ask why she quit doing her work in all her classes, she tells him she "hates life" and "she just doesn't care anymore". Instead of "counseling" her, or calling me to tell me what's going on, he tells her to drop out then. She was over 16 so she can drop out without my permission. I don't think kids should have that "right", they are minors until 18, so therefore should NOT be able to do anything without parental permission. Even so, why would a counselor advise a depressed child to quit school instead of atleast trying to help them?
• michelle: Wow. The numbers are alarming. However, not all kids fall through the cracks. More parents need to be involved and quit letting video games babysit their kids. They need to pay attention to what is going on. If there are red flags get into their business. It is YOUR job.
  As for the harsh assessment from Amy, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Not everyone has a bad experience at Trenton schools though.
  My son is in 7th grade. He does really well in school and whenever there has been a potential issue his teachers have been great about getting in touch with me and keeping me involved. He was also very close to a grandparent who passed away (she watched him almost every day). I didn't think it was up to the school to take care of him. We talked with him, the whole network of family and friends were involved. We let the school know what was going on so they could keep me up to date if there were issues. He was able to get through it with all the support he had. He went to Hedke and Mr. Porecca and the majority of the staff there were awesome. I think the issue in the elementaries now are the overcrowding over the past few years. After closing Taylor the individual attention has decreased. There is no way the teachers can pay that much attention to ALL of the kids they now have. I don't envy them. Still, with more parental involvement, tutoring being available among other things, the children can still be very successful.
• Jennifer Blackledge Moberly: I may be wrong, but to put it in perspective, if you have a class of about 200 kids, that means about 3 dropped out last year and about 6 this year. Classes/cohorts vary greatly -- just ask kids or teachers. One grade can be a nightmare and the next grade fairly easy and well-behave overall. I would think the drop-out rates vary with the overall characteristics of each class, rather than being a reflection of a sudden drop in overall district quality.

Several readers also commented on the Trenton-Grosse Ile Patch Facebook page. Comments from this page can be found in the above Storify.com article.

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