Manatee County high school graduation rate continues to climb

BRADENTON -- Manatee County School District is celebrating a 2.2 percentage-point rise in its student graduation rate.

For the 2014-15 year, Manatee's graduation rate just surpasses the statewide graduation rate, according to new data released by the Florida Department of Education. The graduation rate for Manatee District in 2015 was 77.9 percent, just above the statewide graduation rate of 77.8 percent.

Since 2011, the district's graduation rate has jumped 13.2 percentage points, according to data.

Cynthia Saunders, deputy superintendent of instruction and the district's former executive director of secondary schools, said the district -- through principals and guidance counselors -- has been focusing on making sure students and parents know all the options available to earn a diploma.

"We've come up with a lot of different venues so it's not just one size fits all," she said. "We have a lot of choice and we try to make sure they're on track."

The traditional high schools performed well against the state in the graduation rates and the district's alternative sites tended to struggle the most, Saunders said. While officials are celebrating the increased rate, Saunders said they're always looking for more ways to improve.

"Until we have all of our students graduating, we haven't met our goal," she said.

Overall, graduation rates for the class of 2015 resulted in Florida achieving a 12-year high, according to data from the state department of education. Florida's statewide graduation rate climbed to 77.8 percent, an increase of more than 18 percentage points since 2003-04 and 1.7 percentage points from last year.

Manatee was one of six districts in the southwest part of Florida singled out by the Department of Education for making gains.

"I want to thank and congratulate our students and teachers, and I want to emphasize the key role our principals and guidance counselors play in increasing graduation rates," Superintendent Diana Greene said in a statement. "Guidance counselors are constantly in front of our students making sure they have the correct credits and they work as a team with our principals to make sure our students stay on track to graduate. The results we received today are a reflection of their hard work."

Florida's graduation rate counts students who earn a standard diploma. Students who earn a special diploma, a GED-based diploma, a certificate of completion, or have been retained and are still in school after four years are not counted in the calculation.

The graduation rate measures the percentage of students who graduate within four years of their first enrollment in ninth grade, according to the state.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter@MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Manatee County high school graduation rate continues to climb ."