Lyons school administrators are disputing a national report that labels Lyons High School as a "dropout factory".

Seven Kansas schools, including Lyons High School, were identified by Johns Hopkins University researchers as "dropout factories" because no more than 60 percent of the students who start as freshmen make it to their senior year:

Lyons High School Principal Gary Sechrist says the data used by Johns Hopkins is skewed and not factual.

"We know exactly how they got the information and it is not factual," said Sechrist. "Our reputation has been sullied because of their poor research."

Sechrist points out the school received Standard of Excellence Awards for math and reading assessments.

Johns Hopkins released this information about the study. "Using data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics, researchers Robert Balfanz and Nettie Legters measured the "promoting power" of 10,000 regular and vocational high schools that enroll more than 300 students. They compared the number of freshmen in each school to the number of seniors there four years later."

These Kansas schools were cited as "dropout factories".
-- Elkhart High, Elkhart, Kan., 59 percent
-- J.C. Harmon High, Kansas City, Kan., 60 percent
-- Wyandotte High, Kansas City, Kan., 44 percent
-- Lyons High, Lyons, Kan., 49 percent
-- Capital City, Topeka, Kan., 31 percent
-- Topeka High, Topeka, Kan., 60 percent
-- Topeka West High, Topeka, Kan., 56 percent

PROMOTION RATE: The percentage of students who start as freshmen
and make it to their senior years. For the nationwide study, an
average promotion rate was calculated by using rates over three
years at regular and vocational high schools.