Starr’s Mill tops county list at 95%
The graduation rate for Fayette County high school students has increased for the fourth consecutive year, with the county showing the second highest graduation rate in the state compared to school systems of similar size.
School system spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach said Fayette’s high school graduation rate has increased for a fourth consecutive year, rising from 89.5 percent in 2014 to 92 percent in 2015. Those figures equate to an increase of 13.5 percentage points since 2011.
Fayette has the second highest graduation rate in the state and the metro-Atlanta area compared to systems with similar size graduating classes, Berry-Dreisbach said.
“Likewise, the county’s high schools are also at the top in the state. Starr’s Mill High, Whitewater High and McIntosh High are at Nos. 9, 16 and 24, respectively, placing them in the top six percent of all state high schools,” said Berry-Dreisbach. “Sandy Creek High and Fayette County High are at 55 and 66, respectively, placing them in the top 15 percent.”
Berry-Dreisbach said this is also the fourth consecutive year that all five high schools have increased or maintained their graduation rates.
Sandy Creek High went from 82.5 in 2014 to 89.4 in 2015 and has increased a total of 22.6 percentage points since 2011. Fayette County High went from 83.4 percent in 2014 to 88.4 percent in 2015 and has increased a total of 16.4 percentage points since 2011. Starr’s Mill High went from 94.1 percent in 2014 to 95.1 percent in 2015 and has increased a total of 7.9 percentage points since 2011. Whitewater High went from 93.7 percent in 2014 to 93.9 percent in 2015 and has increased a total of 7.2 percentage points since 2011. McIntosh High’s graduation rate remained virtually unchanged with 93 percent in 2014 and a 92.9 percent in 2015. The school has increased its graduation rate a total of 15.7 percentage points since 2011, said Berry-Dreisbach.
“Both the school system and all high schools are well above the state’s graduation rate, which is 78.8 percent for 2015,” Berry-Dreisbach said. “Also, the system and all high schools are above the national graduation rate of 80 percent, based on 2012 data, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the U.S. Department of Education.”
This is the fifth year Georgia has calculated the graduation rate using a new formula, known as the adjusted cohort rate, now required by the U.S. Department of Education. The four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate defines the cohort based on when a student first becomes a freshman. It is calculated using the number of students who graduate within four years and includes adjustments for student transfers. In contrast, Georgia’s former graduation rate calculation defined the cohort upon graduation, which may have included students who took more than four years to graduate.
