Escambia Graduation Rates Climb, Fall Short Of State Average

December 16, 2013

The federal high school graduation rate in Escambia County is up, but the district still lags behind the state average and neighboring counties.

Escambia County’s 2012-2013 graduation rates was up to 64.2 percent from  62.1 for the 2011-2012 school year. By comparison, the 2012-2013 graduation rate was 78.9  percent in Santa Rosa County and 82.7 percent in Okaloosa County.

Florida’s high school graduation rate increased by 1.1 percentage points over the last year and has increased significantly during the past ten years. The rate rose from 59.2 percent in 2003-04 to 75.6 percent in 2012-13.

The federal high school graduation rate includes standard four-year diplomas but excludes regular and adult GEDs and special diplomas.

The highest individual high school graduation rates in Escambia County were West Florida, Tate, Washington and Northview high schools, while Escambia Virtual Academy, Pensacola High, Pine Forest and Escambia high schools rounded out the bottom half.

Escambia County 2012-2013 School Graduation Rates Compared from 2011-2013

  • West Florida High School — 90.9% down from 91.9%
  • Tate High School — 77.1% up from 73.4%
  • Washington High School — 76.4% up from 71.1%
  • Northview High School — 70.8% up from 67.4%
  • Escambia Virtual Academy — 65% up from 42.7%
  • Pensacola High School — 62.3% own from 62.4%
  • Pine Forest High School — 60.0% up from 55.3%
  • Escambia High School — 55.1%, down from 61.6%

Pictured top: Northview High School Valedictorian Jazzlyn Franklin delivers her address to the NHS Class of 2013 at the school. Pictured below: The Tate High School class of 2013 graduates at the Pensacola Bay Center. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

8 Responses to “Escambia Graduation Rates Climb, Fall Short Of State Average”

  1. Susan on December 19th, 2013 11:19 am

    This is a highly transient area. The school district should not be held accountable for students who’s parents withdraw them. I also don’t see how a kid can turn 18 and be made graduate. Too many factors beyond a school’s control.

  2. tbpcola on December 19th, 2013 10:33 am

    I’d be interested in seeing the stats on how many of the Escambia County dropouts eventually sign up for Adult High to finish their studies.

  3. math? on December 18th, 2013 7:13 am

    Thanks William and the truth. I was just wondering because neither story eluded to the fact of other schools/programs contributing to the final number. @the truth – this is a flawed process. I bet if they gave the current method of calculation to one of the AP stats classes in the county they could come up with a non-biased way to accurately determine the graduation rates. Pair them up with a technology program and I am sure an “enter number here” computer program could be developed. We have A LOT of bright kids in our system so I am sure a top quality product could be made.

  4. thetruth on December 17th, 2013 9:01 am

    What hurts the graduation rate is the way they calculate it. Any student who starts their freshman year in high school is factored into the equation. For instance, Little Johnny starts his freshman year at Tate and his dad is in the military and gets transferred to Japan then Little Johnny brings down the graduation rate. People who move to other counties or states or countries are factored into the equation the same as somebody who drops out to do nothing. There should be some kind of system where a military kid who has to leave because of transfer is not punishing the school who is held accountable for the graduation rate.

  5. William on December 17th, 2013 7:42 am

    >>>What other schools or factors are used in the calculation of the Escambia County average? If you average the schools listed 2012-2013 average is 69.7% and 2011-2012 is 65.7.

    The county’s graduation rate is 64.17% (we rounded to a single decimal point on all listed rates).

    There several schools and “programs” that we did not list in the story above with the major high schools….Camelot Academy, Judy Andrews Center, Escambia Westgate, Lakeview Dropout Prevention, Escambia County Jail Program, and Escambia Charter School. The combined graduation rate of these schools/programs was just 16 of 203 students, or just 7.9%.

  6. math? on December 17th, 2013 7:33 am

    What other schools or factors are used in the calculation of the Escambia County average? If you average the schools listed 2012-2013 average is 69.7% and 2011-2012 is 65.7. PNJ used the same percentages so I am just curious.

  7. No Excuses on December 16th, 2013 8:16 am

    Success or failure in school is largely the responsibility of the student. Most students who don’t finish school have other reasons for dropping out. Of course, there are those who simply could care less about school as well. It’s been my experience, both from the teaching perspective, and that of a parent, that the school system does everything it can to keep students in school. If the students and/or their parents don’t live up to their end of the responsibilitiy, then there isn’t much the school system can do. We don’t realize how good we have it sometimes, until we get a bit older and wish we had done things differently.

  8. Jane on December 16th, 2013 5:04 am

    Do these children fail in school, drop out or leave the area? That is a shocking number.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News