Auburn schools will often cite their higher percentage of at-risk students when the district's results do not compare favorably with other schools in the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES.

But how does the district explain that - according to the state Department of Education - the Auburn school district's class of 2004 had the highest dropout percentage (22.7) of more than 40 central New York school districts, some of which presumably have as many or more at-risk students? Auburn's graduation rate of 63 percent was second-lowest. Sadly, Moravia had the lowest graduation percentage in the class of 2004, according to state figures.

Auburn superintendent John Plume is among those who believes the numbers provided by the state Department of Education are flawed. Plume puts the Auburn school district's dropout rate at 11.5 percent, but if the state's math is flawed across the board, then Auburn would still have among the highest dropout rate in central New York. If the state counted Auburn students who transferred to other schools as "dropouts," then they likely did so in other districts as well.

Last week, Plume presented the school board with a plan to help reduce the district's dropout rate, which includes creating a "better, stronger connection between students and school." We hope that Moravia school officials also see these numbers as alarming, and are looking at ways to retain students through graduation.

Of course, retaining students is not entirely the job of a school district. Parents need to provide an environment of learning for their children, and the importance of an education needs to be stressed within the family unit.

The figures released by the state this month - whether flawed or not - put Auburn, Moravia and other districts on notice that there is much work to be done to keep students in school.