Rate down slightly from last year but still 33rd best in Ga.; Whitewater leads county at 97.6%, Sandy Creek lags at 84.8%
Statewide graduation rates for public schools are in. The graduation rate for Fayette County seniors came in at 91.2 percent, the 33rd highest of the state’s more than 180 school districts.
Fayette’s 2016 high school graduation rate remains strong at 91.2 percent, with the school system posting the second highest rate in the metro Atlanta area, said school system spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach.
“Compared to all school systems in the state, Fayette had the 33rd highest graduation rate, taking into account that all school systems, except one, had graduation classes well below Fayette’s 1,686 students,” said Berry-Dreisbach.
Berry-Dreisbach said Whitewater High had the largest graduation rate increase in the school system with 97.6 percent compared to 93.9 percent in 2015, which is nearly a 4 percent increase in one year. The school had the 15th highest graduation rate in the state.
McIntosh High also had an increase, going from 92.9 in 2015 to 93.4 in 2016, and had the 57th highest graduation rate in the state, said Berry-Dreisbach.
Berry-Dreisbach said graduation rates at Fayette County High (87.3 percent), Sandy Creek High (84.8 percent) and Starr’s Mill High (91.4 percent) decreased by 1.1 percent, 4.6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.
Fayette’s overall graduation rate took a slight dip, 0.8 percent, from 2015 when it was at 92 percent, Berry-Dreisbach said.
“High school principals and county administrators are analyzing information from last year’s graduation class to see what supports are needed to help graduation rates increase across the county,” said Berry-Dreisbach.
This is the sixth year Georgia has calculated the graduation rate using the adjusted cohort rate, which is 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 and 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, said Berry-Dreisbach.
