St. Mary, state show improving graduation rates

St. Mary Parish’s high school graduation rate reached 81 percent for the 2013-14 school year, a rate that has increased each year since the 2007-08 school year’s 63.4 percent graduation rate, according to the Louisiana Department of Education.
The Department of Education announced Monday that Louisiana’s four-year high school graduation rate achieved a record high in 2014, increasing for the fourth straight year to reach 74.6 percent, a 1.1 percentage point increase from 2013 and a 3.2 percentage point increase since 2011, according to a news release.
The 2014 graduation rate of 74.6 percent marks a nearly 10 percent increase in less than a decade, the release said. In the class of 2014, nearly 1,600 more students graduated than did in the class of 2013, and nearly 3,440 more students than in 2011, the release stated.
For the 2013-14 school year, Centerville High School had the largest rise in graduation rates among St. Mary Parish schools, reaching a 91.7 percent rate, up from 77.1 percent in 2012-13, said Superintendent Donald Aguillard said.
Three other parish high schools also saw their graduation rates increase in 2013-14. Morgan City High School rose to 82.4 percent from 74.5 percent in 2012-13. Patterson High School reached 84.5 percent compared to 81.8 percent in 2012-13.
Franklin High School also increased its rate to 72.5 percent from 69.3 percent in 2012-13.
Berwick High School’s rate dipped slightly to 89.8 percent compared to its 90.7 percent rate for the previous year. West St. Mary High School’s rate also decreased to 69.3 percent from the prior year’s 72.2 percent rate.
Aguillard commended schools for aggressively working over the past five years to move the graduate rate from 68.2 percent in 2009-10 to 81 percent in 2013-14, he said in an email.
All school districts were challenged to achieve an 80 percent grad rate by 2014, Aguillard said.
“High schools have addressed academic needs of all students by providing multiple pathways to ensure students are on track to earn Carnegie units necessary for a high school diploma,” Aguillard said. “Credit recovery, dual credit, and Jump Start are all initiatives that high schools have deployed with the intent to address needs of students. Extended Day in middle schools over the past five years has also eliminated overage students trapped in middle grades.”
The resulting impact of those initiatives is that more students enter high school at grade level, which contributes to “a higher probability that each entering cohort will remain in school to complete graduation requirements,” Aguillard said.
In a news release, State Superintendent of Schools John White said, “This increase in the number of students graduating from high school in four years is a great sign for our state and a true testament to the hard work and devotion of teachers, principals, and families across Louisiana.”
White said, “The increases realized by our districts and schools are more evidence our state cannot afford to go backwards.”
According to the Louisiana Department of Education, of the nearly 1,600 additional students graduating in 2014, more than 1,200 are of a minority racial group and more than 1,230 are from low-income backgrounds.
Graduation rates for students of color improved by 2 percent, nearly doubling the state’s overall improvement, the news release said. From 2013 to 2014, the graduation rate for students with disabilities also significantly improved, seeing a 6.1 point increase, according to the news release.