LEWISTON — When it comes to graduation rates, Lewiston High School continued to have among the worst in Maine in 2008-09. The graduation rate was 60 percent, compared to the state average of 80 percent.

Pointing to a number of programs designed to help, Lewiston High Principal Gus LeBlanc is hopeful more students will walk out the door with a diploma.

In 2009-10 the school’s graduation rate improved to 68 percent.

LeBlanc hopes the rate will reach 70 percent or higher this year. “We think we have 75 percent (of seniors) on track for graduation in June,” he said. “We’ve got more kids in their senior year at a point where they can graduate.”

The way the state calculates the graduation rate does not count students who spent a fifth year in school or are in adult education. It only counts students who entered as freshmen and graduated four years later.

Lewiston’s graduation rate has been low for years, LeBlanc said. When Lewiston High School counts students who spent a fifth year earning their diplomas, the rate jumps to 70 percent, LeBlanc said.

“Still, 70 percent is not acceptable,” he said. “We’re not happy with our graduation rates. We’re changing that.”

Poverty is one reason for Lewiston’s graduation rate, LeBlanc said.

“People in Lewiston are not bad or ignorant,” he said. “They come from poverty.” That doesn’t mean they can’t learn, but being poor is a disadvantage, he said.

Another problem is immigrant students who show up with little education and little English who need more than four years in high school to graduate.

When a Lewiston student doesn’t make it, “I feel like I’ve personally failed them,” LeBlanc said. “I know that getting that high school diploma will make a difference.”

Despite obstacles, LeBlanc is hopeful. Last year, because of one new program, Lewiston Academy, 10 students graduated.

Other initiatives include:

* A full-blown graduation ceremony in August, letting students know they have two more months to make up credits and graduate.

* After-school programs to help students who failed a course. If they fail in the fall, they can retake that course in the spring instead of waiting for summer school.

* Mentoring for students in danger of not graduating. “Each administrator has taken four students. We meet on a regular basis,” LeBlanc said.

* A program that allows students to take online courses in subjects they’ve failed.

* A large summer school program free to students. “Last year, we had 490 kids in here for six weeks in the summer. We have a lot going on.”

Lewiston and Auburn schools are also addressing the graduation rate and other problems through a Safe Schools Healthy Students federal grant.

Experts say the dropout problem begins before high school, and there’s no magic bullet for improving it.

The solution is a system-wide approach involving all staff and a culture that supports keeping students successful in school, said Maine Department of Education spokesman David Connerty-Marin.

“When students feel unsuccessful, they disengage, which only worsens the problem,” Connerty-Marin said.

“We need to recognize and address the needs of students who come to school with a host of issues … such as hunger, homelessness, troubled families and health problems,” he said. “We need to build a culture in which there’s conviction that every student can succeed, given the right supports.”