KY School Districts Rush To Approve Higher Dropout Age

The rush among Kentucky school boards to raise their school dropout age turned into a stampede — set off at least partly by a cash enticement. Local school boards started voting last week to increase the dropout age from 16 to 18, and within the first two days 54 school districts did so. By last Friday, 75 districts were on board, closing in on the 96 districts needed to make sure the policy change is applied statewide. The cash enticement to embrace the change comes in the form of $10,000 state grants, meant to help districts with the costs of raising the minimum dropout age. At the outset, the one-time grants were offered to the first 57 districts embracing the change. Now the grants are available to the first 96.