Four of six high school lose ground; previous year had been system-wide high in on-time graduations
The Alamance-Burlington school system’s four-year graduation rate declined by 1.4 percentage points, from 87.3 percent in 2020-21 to 85.9 percent in 2021-22, according to the latest annual graduation report released Thursday by the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
The four-year graduation rate for ABSS had reached an historic high of 87.3 percent for the 2020-21, topping the statewide graduation rate for the first time in recent memory, based on the state’s annual graduation report for that school year. Last year’s four-year graduation rate was also the highest since the state began tracking the rate in 2006.
Four-year graduation rates for several ABSS high schools (Southern and Eastern) and for the ABSS Early College housed on Alamance Community College’s campus surpassed the statewide rate for a fourth consecutive year (see accompanying chart).
However, the system-wide graduation rate (85.9 percent) trailed the statewide rate (86.2 percent) by three-tenths of a percentage point in 2021-22.
The four-year graduation rate for ABSS represents students who entered the ninth grade in 2018-19 and graduated within the traditional four-year time frame in 2021-22.
Other ABSS coverage in this week’s edition:
State’s “grades” for ABSS schools are mostly Ds & Fs: https://alamancenews.com/nearly-half-of-abss-schools-get-ds-and-fs-on-state-grades/
Supt. removes LGBTQ book from Western High library: https://alamancenews.com/supt-removes-lgbtq-book-from-western-high-library/
Read the newspaper’s editorial page opinion on the superintendent’s action removing book from school library : https://alamancenews.com/thank-you-dr-butler/
With more than 95 percent of seniors graduating on-time in 2021-22, the graduation rate for the ABSS Early College campus exceeded the four-year graduation rate for the school system as a whole (85.9 percent), as well as the statewide rate of 86.2 percent, for a seventh consecutive year, according to DPI. At greater than 95 percent, the graduation rate for the Early College has remained unchanged for nearly a decade, according to state annual graduation reports.
On-time graduation rates improved at two of the six traditional ABSS high schools but declined at four schools in 2021-22.
Four-year graduation rates at two ABSS high schools (Southern and Eastern) also exceeded the statewide graduation and system-wide rates in 2021-22, the state’s latest report reveals.
At 92.4 percent, the four-year graduation rate at Southern High School was 6.5 percentage points higher than the system-wide graduation rate and 6.2 percentage points higher than the statewide rate in 2021-22. That represented an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the previous school year, when the four-year graduation rate for Southern High School was 92 percent.
Eastern High School’s graduation rate of 90.4 percent –which represented a decline of 2.5 percentage points from last year’s rate of 92.9 percent – was 4.5 percentage points higher than the system-wide rate and 4.2 percentage points higher than the statewide graduation rate in 2021-22.
Graham High School experienced the largest improvement in the on-time graduation rate, climbing 4.9 percentage points, from 77.5 percent in 2020-21 to 82.4 percent in 2021-22, based on DPI’s report.
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Cummings and Western High schools experienced the largest declines in their four-year graduation rates in 2021-22.
The graduation rate at Cummings High School declined 5.6 percentage points, dropping from 80.2 percent in 2020-21 to a rate of 74.6 percent in 2021-22.
The on-time graduation rate at Western High School fell 4.0 percentage points, declining from 87.3 percent in 2020-21 to 84.3 percent in 2021-22, according to DPI’s report.
The four-year graduation rate for Williams High School declined by 2.2 percentage points, from 86.1 percent in 2020-21 to 83.9 percent in 2021-22.
ABSS in middle of pack among Triad-area school systems
Among the 16 schools that make up the state’s Piedmont-Triad educational region, ABSS tied with the Elkin city school system for ninth place (see accompanying chart).
Guilford County schools took the top spot, with a four-year graduation rate of 91.8 percent that outpaced the statewide rate (86.2 percent) by 5.6 percentage points and the system-wide rate of 85.9 percent for ABSS by 5.9 percentage points (see accompanying chart, above).
Rounding out the bottom of the Piedmont-Triad region was the Lexington city school system, which had a four-year graduation rate of 82.0 percent for 2021-22, trailing the statewide rate by 4.2 percentage points and the ABSS rate by 3.9 percentage points.
Charter school graduation rates higher
Meanwhile, the county’s three charter schools all posted four-year graduation rates that were higher than those for ABSS and the state in 2021-22, according to DPI’s latest report (see accompanying chart).
The four-year graduation rate for River Mill Academy in Graham remained unchanged for a third consecutive year, topping 95 percent in 2021-22.
The on-time graduation rate improved at Clover Garden School by 2.7 percentage points, from 92.3 percent in 2020-21 to greater than 95 percent in 2021-22, according to DPI.
The rate for The Hawbridge School declined by 3.5 percentage points, from 93.5 percent last year to 90 percent this year.
Nonetheless, four-year graduation rates for all three charter schools topped those for the state and ABSS. The rates for both Clover Garden and River Mill surpassed the rate for ABSS by 9.1 percentage points and the statewide rate by 8.8 percentage points in 2021-22. The four-year graduation rate for Hawbridge was 4.1 percentage points higher than that for ABSS and 3.8 percentage points higher than the statewide rate in 2021-22, DPI’s report shows.
No graduation rate is reported for the county’s fourth charter school, Alamance Community School, which opened off Jimmie Kerr Road in August 2020 and currently goes up to the fifth grade.
