County schools ranked at number 116 out of 147
The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) has released the high school graduation rates for the 2018-19 school year, which show the state’s graduation rate has hit an all-time high of 85 percent, higher than the most recent national graduation rate. For the Forest Municipal School District, however, the graduation rate of 69.7 percent, according to the MDE report, is one of the lowest in the state, coming in fourth from the bottom, and besting only Canton Public Schools at 69.6 percent, Durant Public Schools at 68 percent and Oakley Youth Development Center at 5 percent.
The Scott County School District faired somewhat better with a graduation rate of 79.8 percent which ranks 116 out of the 147 schools listed on the MDE report.
In addition, the state’s drop-out rate fell to an historic low of 9.7 percent, a decrease from 13.9 percent in 2014. FMSD’s drop-out rate was 18.2 percent and SCSD’s drop-out rate was 11.2 percent ranking 133rd and 98th of the 147 school districts identified.
FMSD Superintendent Dr. Karen Norwood said Tuesday that they are not where they need to be, and that the district is working hard to make improvements.
“We are currently at the bottom of the state with our graduation rate and that is definitely not where we want to be,” Norwood said. “We are working very hard to create a culture amongst our students and parents that graduation is a goal that we all need to be striving towards.”
SCSD Superintendent Dr. Tony McGee offered some more in-depth insight on the county’s rankings.
“The graduation rate is determined by the number of students that enter ninth grade divided by the number of students that graduate high school four years later,” McGee said. “The difficulty we run into is that many times students will enroll with us at one of our high schools but transition to some other type of learning environment over the course of the four-year process. Students who withdraw from school may go to home school, non-public school, GED program, or even transfer to an out-of-state school. The ability to track those students who leave us and transition to other learning environments presents a unique challenge.”
Dr. McGee also expressed confidence in the educational staff in the county schools.
“What I feel confident in saying is that our high school instructional team works very hard to ensure students remain in school and on track to graduate,” McGee said. “Principals, teachers, and school counselors make home visits, calls, and send letters to encourage students who are struggling to graduate to stay in school and graduate on time. Every child is important, and no child is expendable. Scott County wants every child to graduate and move into a productive life.
“Anytime we lose one child it’s bad. Our goal every year is to get every child who enters the ninth grade to the finish line, proficient and on time. Can we do more? Yes, yes we can, and we will continue to strive for 100 percent completion, and we believe that should be the goal of every school, district, and family.”
McGee also said that this year he challented the staff to be more child focused in their endeavors. “We have a great group of educators who work tirelessly to meet the needs of our students,” he said. “We know that many times it’s not just the academics that determine if a child graduates from high school. As a district a main point of emphasis this year is to expand the social and emotional learning of students. The Scott County School District is trying to meet the whole child.
“We have partnered with Family First to help provide an alternate avenue for graduation for students struggling with the SATP Test. We send a daily call out to students who miss school so that parents will know students are missing instructional time. And we have provided an office on our campus for the Truancy officer so that she can be in close contact with students and parents.
“We are looking at more work-force development programs for students because we know that all education leads to employment. Students need options for graduation and having multiple diploma tracks will help this endeavor. Our district has got to do a much better job of educating the family on missed time from school. We have many students that start out in the early grades missing a lot of school, and by the time they enter high school they have become part of the chronic absenteeism problem. Not only do students miss instruction, but the district also loses money for average daily attendance, which sets funding for teacher units in our district,” Dr. McGee concluded.
“Mississippi’s rising graduation rate is the result of our students’ significant academic gains in recent years. Student achievement is at an all-time high and is continuing to climb,” said Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education. “I congratulate teachers, school leaders and parents for helping students complete high school prepared for college, postsecondary training, the military and the workforce.”
High school students now have the opportunity to earn an endorsement with their high school diploma. Starting in grade nine, students choose whether they want to work toward a traditional diploma, or take additional classes to earn an academic, distinguished academic or career and technical education endorsement. Students can earn more than one endorsement.
Each diploma option prepares students to be successful after graduation, whether that be in the workforce, a career and technical training program, the military or college.
Students who earn an academic or distinguished academic diploma endorsement from a public high school automatically qualify for admission into any of the state’s public universities.
Mississippi’s high school graduation rate is calculated in accordance with federal and state law using a four-year cohort method. The 2020 graduation rate is based on students who entered grade 9 for the first time in the 2015-16 school year.
Graduation rates for 2018-19 will be reflected in the accountability ratings for the 2019-20 school year.
To see the complete 2020 Graduation Rate Report log onto mdek12.org/OPR/Reporting/Accountability.
