'A Tough Place:' Nearly Half Of Students Don't Graduate From Aurora Public Schools

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- There's a call for major changes in Aurora Public Schools by a group of parents, educators and students.

"We're starting from a tough place, no doubt about it," said Aurora Public Schools Superintendent Rico Munn.

According to a new report by the If Not Now coalition, only half of all students are likely to graduate from high school.

Munn took on the superintendent's role in a challenging school district where more than 100 languages are spoken.

"Maybe we need some help for parents who cannot speak English," said parent Shova Dahl.

The group claims of every 10 students that begin Kindergarten in Aurora, only five will graduate high school and only one of those is likely to graduate from college.

On Wednesday afternoon the Aurora Public Schools superintendent said the district is working to improve the schools by bringing in adults to mentor the students.

"Just last year we opened up an Early Beginnings site, a Zoom site, which serves students as early as three weeks of age," said Munn.

Munn said the district is working to improve the schools by bringing in adults to mentor students.

"We invested significant dollars to bring more caring adults into our buildings to try and establish better connections and engagement with our students," said Munn.

The graduation rate in Colorado is about 80 percent.