NORWICH – Too few of Norwich High School’s students with disabilities graduate on time and too many drop out, according to New York State, which has determined the district “Needs Assistance” in serving this portion of the student population.

According to Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan, the designation is a challenge for the district, but he said he is confident they will be able to rise above it as they have done others in the past.

“We will do our absolute best to provide necessary services to our students,” O’Sullivan said. “We’re going to make sure these students are successful.”

Iraina Gerchman, the district’s director of instruction and staff development, reported last week that the district had recently been notified that it failed to meet state targets in both of these areas for the third consecutive year, based on data from the 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09 school years.

Graduation rates for Norwich High School’s students with disabilities, which lag behind the rest of the student population, were above the state target of 38 in 2005/06, but dipped below that number in 2006/07 when only 33.3 percent of this portion of the student population reached graduation. The graduation rate has been on the decline since then, dropped to 32.3 percent the following year and to 24 percent in 2008/09, the last year for which data is available.