When school doors opened across the state this fall, an unexpected group of students was affected thanks to a new law that raised the minimum dropout age from 16 to 18.

Schools in New Hampshire were given the task of locating formerly legal dropouts, as students who had legally dropped out previously before turning 18 must now return to school.

Pelham and Salem were not greatly affected by the new law, which went into effect on July 1.

Pelham/Windham Superintendent of Schools Frank Bass said the issue isn’t about tracking down the students who had already left school, but stopping future students from doing the same.

“The new law is not really an issue for us,” said Bass. “The issue is being able to catch the student before their fall. We have to provide a safety net and find intervention strategies that will be helpful for them and their parents.”

Pelham High School, which had 693 students last school year, had a dropout rate of 2.3 percent in 2008-09, a total of 16 students. Though Salem High School had a higher number of dropouts than Pelham, the percentage was lower in 2008-09, with 44 students leaving school, a percentage of 1.9 percent. Superintendent of Schools Michael Delahanty said Salem officials had to send out letters to six students telling them of their obligation to return to school, and they have not had any trouble tracking those students down.

Before the law was even put into place, Salem had a variety of alternative programs for students struggling with standard classroom learning, something he believes directly led to the school’s low dropout rate.

“The options and alternatives we’ve offered for years have been beneficial to our students and students in other communities,” said Delahanty. “Many districts have patterned their programs after ours and adapted it for their own purposes. For our school district, our program works very well.”

The school offers an alternative diploma program, the GED option and an individual accountability plan for completing the high school work that must be approved by the superintendent, which can include online or evening classes.

One of the issues with the law that Delahanty sees is that in many cases students dropping out of school are involved in drugs and alcohol, and school is not always the solution for what they need.

Overall, however, the superintendent believes the law is in the best interest of the state’s students. Bass agrees, saying Pelham school officials embrace the change, and see it as another opportunity to help kids stay on track.

“We’re confident that we’ll be in great shape when the year is over,” said Bass. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we had zero dropouts at Pelham High School.”