Duval County Public Schools raised its high school graduation rate by a little more than a percentage point, bringing it to a historic high and closer than it’s been in years to the state average, records show.
On Thursday morning, new data from the Florida Department of Education revealed that 86.5 percent of the district’s high school students graduated last school year.
“I hope all of Jacksonville will join me in celebrating our students, educators and schools as they continue to break records and become a point of pride for our community,” said Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Diana Greene. “This is just one more great example of how we are successfully preparing students for success in college and career and producing a well-equipped workforce for Jacksonville.”
This is up from 85.1 percent in the 2017-2018 school year.
“Reaching these record breaking highs despite the challenges we’ve faced with facilities and politics certainly speaks to the dedication of our incredible teachers and staff and the quality of leadership and expertise that Dr. Diana Greene brought to Duval in her first full year as our appointed Superintendent,” school board vice-chair Elizabeth Andersen said. “I am thrilled to see hard work paying off and excited about the possibilities for our students and communities.”
The challenges Andersen refers to goes back to the months the school district has spent fighting for a half-cent sales tax referendum, as well as a new legislative bill proposing an elected school superintendent rather than an appointed one like current leader, Superintendent Greene.
Throughout Northeast Florida, districts’ graduation rates mostly improved. Baker raised its rate by 3.3 percent, Clay improved by 0.8 percent and St. Johns raised by a percentage. Nassau County’s graduation rate declined by 0.5 percent.
With the state’s graduation rate only slightly going up from last year — from 86.1 percent to 86.9 percent — this is the closest Duval County’s graduation rate (86.5 percent) has been to the benchmark, separated by less than a point.
“It’s certainly a testament to the work the board and superintendent, our principals and teachers have done over the last year,” school board chairman Warren Jones said. “We continue to increase the graduation rate and the policies we put into students lives has paid in dividends.”
Jones said the school district’s performance was a testament to Superintendent Greene’s role as an appointed superintendent.
Greene began as superintendent of Duval County Public Schools in July of 2018, making the 2018-2019 school year the first under her tenure.
“It speaks volumes to the fact that we’re doing our job in spite of a lack of funding for teachers’ pay and a lack of funding for maintaining buildings in a 21st century learning environment. We’re still doing the work,” Jones said. “It just shows that the district Is not being purchased by those who want to take advantage of us.”
Despite an overall improved performance, Duval Schools hasn’t been able to break into the list of top highest graduation rates like its neighboring counties have.
St. Johns County ranks fifth overall in the state, with Nassau at No. 10 and Clay just behind in 11th.
Out of the state’s 67 school districts as well as alternative, vocational and virtual schools listed, Duval County ranked No. 40 for 2018-2019 graduation rates.
District officials previously chalked this up to the school district’s larger percentage of economically disadvantaged students, as well as students with disabilities and students who attend schools specializing in at-risk students — all factors it said made the graduation rates less comparable to more suburban school districts.
Among the rest of Florida’s largest school districts — known as the Big Seven — Duval County Schools performed better than Broward and Miami-Dade schools, but still trailed Pinellas and Orange County schools.
School-by-school, standout performances highlighted by the district in a news release included Ribault High School, which almost faced closure or consolidation by the school district last year.
Ribault High School jumped more than 8 percentage points to earn a 95.9 percent graduation rate — marking the school’s first time in almost a decade achieving a rate above 90%. It’s one of 17 of the district’s 21 traditional high schools that exceeded the 90 percent graduation rate.
“This is tremendous news for Trojan Nation,” Ribault High School Principal Gregory Bostic said in a news release. “Our school is showing what can happen when, despite enormous odds, you have the support of unbelievably dedicated educators, talented students, and a fiercely-supportive school community.”
Other analyses provided by the Department of Education report revealed record-high graduation rates in Duval County among minority students in 2018-2019.
In Duval County, 84.5 percent of African-American students graduated, 87.5 percent of Hispanic students, 81.7 percent of low socioeconomic students and 84.6 percent of students with disabilities graduated last school year.
The district’s graduation rates for African American, Hispanic and disabled students exceeded the state graduation rates for each subgroup.
“These graduation rates show we are heading in the right direction,” Greene said. “Our trajectory continues to rise toward brighter and brighter futures for our children.”