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RALEIGH – North Carolina's high school dropout rate has dropped for the second year in a row.

The State Board of Education received a report on Thursday that showed 19,184 students dropped out of high school during the 2008-09 school year. The rate is now 4.27 percent, a decrease from 4.97 percent the previous year. It's the lowest ever recorded in North Carolina.

The rate is different from the graduation rate because it only looks at one year, and students who drop out may return and graduate later.

The N.C. Dropout Prevention Committee awards funding for community programs aimed at keeping kids from dropping out of school. David Strahan, a co-chair of the committee, said it's good to focus on the issue.

"A lot of kids just kind of get lost," Strahan said. "Some of the kids drop out in dramatic ways. Some of them just disappear on us."

The state has provided about $35 million in the last three years for programs all across North Carolina.

"What we're finding is that the effective ones is just really hard work: people working hard with these kids," said Janet Johnson, who works with EDSTAR, the group in charge of evaluating the programs.

Johnson said there's a unique but effective program in Johnston County that deals with teen parents to help them stay in school and graduate, or gets them to return to classes if they already dropped out.

Funding for programs may decrease next year given the economy, but experts hope to keep the momentum going.

"We really do know what works in a lot of places," said Jenni Owen, with the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. "The question is getting all of that information in the right hands, at the right time, and getting them the capacity in a way that's meaningful for the children."

Some of the largest districts also saw drops in their rates:
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools went from 5.91 percent to 4.99 percent.
• New Hanover County went from 5.40 percent to 4.49 percent.
• Cumberland County's rate increased from 3.61 to 3.78 percent.
• Wake County schools saw a decrease from 4.17 percent to 3.47 percent.
• Guilford County schools have a dropout rate of 3.13 percent, compared to 3.31 percent the previous year.