Indiana Department of Education released graduation rate data Wednesday for the 2012-2013 school year. Five of the seven area high schools saw their rates decrease for 2012-2013 compared to the 2011-12 data. Three local schools had a graduation rate for 2012-13 lower than the state’s overall graduation rate – Tippecanoe Valley, Wawasee and Warsaw. According to a press release from the DOE, “The data show that the state’s non-waiver graduation rate was 81.72 percent, up from 80.46 percent in 2012. The overall graduation rate for all schools was 88.6 percent, virtually unchanged from the prior year’s rate of 88.7 percent.” Non-waiver data is important for federal reporting requirements, as well as providing a more full picture of the number of students that are successfully passing their end-of-course assessments, the release also states. Locally, graduation rates included: With 452 of 517 students graduating in 2013, Warsaw Community High School had a graduation rate of 87.4 percent. That’s down from 91.4 percent in 2012 and 88.8 percent in 2011, but higher than the 2010 rate of 83.9 percent. Warsaw Community Schools Chief Accountability Officer Amy Sivley said, “We’re constantly looking at these numbers. We knew we would see a dip this year, but it was lower than we anticipated.” She said Warsaw started discussions last year on what it could do to continue to improve the graduation rate. “Hopefully, the graduation rate is a fluke this year,” she said. Wawasee High School had 196 of 229 students graduate in 2013, for 85.6 percent. That’s lower than the 91 percent in 2012 and 91.7 percent in 2011, but above the 83.4 percent rate in 2010. Superintendent Dr. Tom Edington responded, “Our 91 percent at Wawasee for the past two years is where we expected to be this year. We contacted the state, as our figures do not show that drop. The state does not have the personnel to look at all the appeals they received. Data from the state has been an issue. We will let our parents and community know the graduation rate we have from our better data.” Tippecanoe Valley High School had a 75.8 percent graduation rate in 2013, representing 97 of 128 students graduated. The 2013 rate is down from the 2012 rate of 77.8 percent, the 2011 rate of 84.4 percent and the 2010 rate of 80.4 percent. To achieve an 89.8 percent graduation rate for 2013, Triton Jr.-Sr. High School had 53 of 59 students graduate. That’s down from the 2012 rate of 93.8 percent, but still above the 2011 rate of 85.5 percent and the 2010 rate of 89.7 percent. Manchester Jr.-SR. High School had 91 of 95 students graduate in 2013, or 95.8 percent. That’s down from 97.8 percent in 2012 and 96.4 percent in 2011, but still above the 2010 rate of 89.2 percent. Whitko High School was the only area school with an increase in its graduation rate in 2013 compared to 2012. It had 126 out of 138 students graduate in 2013, for 91.3 percent. That’s higher than the 2012 rate of 86.3 percent; the 2011 rate of 80.7 percent; and the 2010 rate of 90.6 percent. Steve Clason, Whitko superintendent, said, “I think the focused leadership at the high school has made that happen.” He said teachers and administrators made coursework more relevant and rigorous for students which made them more interested in it, and that led to the higher graduation rate. “We weren’t quite sure how that (rate) would come out, but we’ve been working hard at it,” including following up more with students than they have in the past, he said. On Lakeland Christian Academy, the IDOE only had information for 2013 provided. With 33 of 33 students graduated, it had a 100 percent graduation rate for 2013.
