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Raytown superintendent lays out goals after data show high dropout, below-target graduation and attendance
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Martin Knox told the Raytown Quality Schools board the district has 7,990 students, a 4-year graduation rate near 76.6% (five-year ~86.48%), a dropout rate of 9.1% and a current attendance rate of 65.5%; he set a year target of 80% graduation and annual reductions in dropout and suspension rates.
Superintendent Dr. Martin Knox told the Raytown Quality Schools Board on Oct. 14 that the district is focusing on attendance, retention and equitable outcomes after reviewing recent enrollment and outcome data. "Our enrollment is at 7,990 students," Knox said, and noted the district’s free-and-reduced-rate trend at roughly 60 percent.
Knox emphasized that attendance and discipline drive academic outcomes. "We are currently at 65.5 percent in terms of our attendance rate," he said, and described work to follow up on absences and provide supports so students can attend and learn. On discipline, Knox presented in-school (ISS) and out-of-school suspension trends and urged the board to be mindful that suspensions should correct behavior rather than simply remove students from school.
The superintendent highlighted outcomes that the district aims to change: Raytown’s dropout rate was cited at 9.1 percent compared with Missouri’s 1.8 percent, and the four-year graduation rate was presented at about 76.6 percent (with a five-year rate near 86.48 percent). "Our graduation target this year... is 80%," Knox said, adding that the district will aim for multi-year progress toward higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates.
Knox described a strategy that combines curriculum and intervention work, targeted scorecard visits with principals and assistant superintendents, and an emphasis on early literacy and third-grade indicators to prevent later dropout. He said the district will set incremental goals — citing a desire to reduce the dropout rate by roughly 5 percent annually and to increase graduation rates through focused interventions — and stressed that these are multiyear efforts that require coordination across HR, curriculum, safety and communications.
Knox also framed human-resources and fiscal practices as supportive levers: better recruitment and retention, stronger communication with families and continued fiscal transparency to prioritize student-facing resources. The presentation concluded with a pledge to keep the board and community informed as strategies and targets are implemented.
The next steps noted by Knox included continued scorecard and learning-walk reviews, targeted outreach to chronically absent students, and work with principals and assistant superintendents to track progress toward the stated attendance, suspension, dropout and graduation goals.
