Middle Georgia high schools post better graduation rates for 2015

High school graduation rates improved across Middle Georgia for 2015, some of them dramatically, according to figures released Monday.

Bibb County boosted its overall graduation rate by more than 12 percentage points, from 58.9 percent in 2014 to 71.2 percent in 2015.

Twiggs County showed the largest improvement, jumping from 42.2 percent in 2014 to 76.8 percent in 2015. Monroe County maintained the midstate's highest overall rate at 87.8 percent, followed by Houston County at 84.9 percent, Peach County at 82.8 percent, Crawford County at 82.1 percent, and Jones County at 78.4 percent.

"It basically boils down to bell-to-bell instruction and everybody focusing on what we're there to do, which is educating kids," Peach County school Superintendent Daryl Fineran said of his system's improvement from 68.6 percent in 2014.

While Fineran said there were no specific programs to pinpoint as responsible for the surge, he said the district had taken a more directed approach to each student's success.

"We're very conscious, everyone, of tracking people from the first day they walk in their ninth-grade year," he said.

Even though Monroe County was already well above the state average, the district still saw gains, from 82.9 percent in 2014 to 87.8 in 2015.

Interim Superintendent Mike Hickman said that besides remediation efforts, the district was hoping to "tap some students' interest" with a new Army JROTC program. Engagement in such activities, he said, could be one key to reaching the remaining 12.2 percent of students who aren't graduating on time.

"It does get harder, ... but we're already trying to target that," he said.

Hickman said everyone in the system, from pre-K teachers to board members to parents, has had a role in the high graduation rate in Monroe County.

"We've got dedicated parents that it means a lot for their kids to graduate from Mary Persons" (High School), he said.

Statewide, the rate improved from 72.5 percent to 78.8 percent as Georgia removed the Georgia High School Graduation test as a graduation requirement. Only students who finish high school within four years are included in the graduation figures.

Still, this year's numbers reflected positive change outside of the expected uptick after removing the test.

In Bibb County, just 65 students completed all requirements except the graduation test last year, which means the graduation rate would have been about 62.7 percent without the test a year ago.

"We believe that a couple things have come into play. One is the fact that principals and teachers have been able to just focus on education," Bibb County school Superintendent Curtis Jones said.

He also said high school administrators have been working with data to track student success for the past several years.

"It takes a while for that to show up," Jones said, adding that his staff was already working with similar numbers to try and predict rates for 2016.

All Bibb and Houston County high schools showed improved graduation rates this year over last.

In Houston County, Veterans High improved from an overall 86 percent graduation rate in 2014 to 89 percent in 2015; Houston County High from 92.1 percent to 94.5; Perry High from 83.4 to 88.1; Northside High from 72.7 percent to 80.5; and Warner Robins High from 71.8 percent to 83.5.

In Bibb County, Hutchings College and Career Academy improved nearly 28 percentage points year over year, and Central High School improved by more than 19 percentage points. Howard High's graduation rate improved from 71 percent to more than 76 percent.

Northeast High improved from 65 percent to 70 percent; Rutland from 59 percent to 67.6 percent; Southwest from 56 percent to 72 percent, and Westside moved from 55 percent to 71 percent.

Jones said that consistent increase showed that the changes made were systemwide and not limited to one school.

"It doesn't matter what school you went to, you had a better chance of graduating," he said.

To contact writer Jeremy Timmerman, call 744-4331 or find him on Twitter@MTJTimm.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Middle Georgia high schools post better graduation rates for 2015 ."