Khalid Ray says he enjoys going to school, but his grades don't reflect his attitude.
Ray, 15, a freshman at Mountain View High School, is failing two classes and receiving D's in four others. A month ago, he was failing four classes.
"I like coming to school," he said one recent afternoon as he sat outside a gas station across the street from his high school, 3901 W. Linda Vista Blvd. "I don't do well on tests, and I'm not there most of the time."
Ray carries a skateboard but absent is the one possession most high school students tend to need — a backpack.
District officials say freshman year isn't always easy for students.
Both Marana high schools — Mountain View and Marana — are working to curb freshman failure rates by offering specific classes for freshmen, said Jan Truitt, an assistant superintendent with the Marana Unified School District.
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But Ray is earning an F in a course — Freshman Foundations — designed to prepare ninth-graders to be successful in high school. The course is required of high school freshmen and teaches students study skills, among other things.
He's also failing art.
In 2007, almost 28 percent of Mountain View ninth-graders failed one or more core courses, defined as English, math, science and social studies.
"Going from eighth to ninth grade is a big transition," Truitt said. "It is moving from a system where there are more supports to a system where there are fewer supports for kids.
"They also are getting used to a different system whereby making that transition to understanding if they do not pass a class and fail it, they have to take it again. We have kindergarten through eighth grade where that is not necessarily the case."
There are several reasons why students fail, such as a lack of motivation, social and family issues and just not caring about grades, experts say. Ray attributes his poor academic performance to attendance problems and a lack of interest in class.
Ray's trouble started when he was an eighth-grader at Cross Middle School in the Amphitheater Public Schools district.
"I did bad," he said. "I got three F's in the eighth grade, but I still passed. I didn't even go to summer school. I don't think they wanted me there."
The Star investigation shows that thousands of Tucson-area students are promoted to the next grade level yearly despite failing basic classes; the analysis further found that this trend — called social promotion — occurs more often in middle school.
Though Ray failed three classes as an eighth-grader, he didn't fail any classes his first semester at Mountain View.
His grades have suffered this semester because of poor attendance, though.
He lives with his two older brothers because he doesn't get along with his mother.
"I chose not to go to school," he said. "Ditching is addictive because you chill with your friends."
Ray says high school is easier than middle school, but more distractions exist.
"You get more friends and you get attached," he said. "It's more social."
He's never sought help from his teachers or counselors, he said. Mountain View offers free tutoring in all core subjects, but Ray says he doesn't have time.
"I need my time at the McChevron," he said, referring to the combination gas station and McDonald's by Mountain View.
Ray said he wants to graduate from high school and knows he is capable of being a good student. Math is his favorite subject. He said he will do everything necessary to graduate.
"I won't be getting bad grades anymore," he said. "I'm going to do my homework and listen in class."
