Harlan Kirgan
The St. Landry Parish public high school graduation rate in 2016 was 66.6 percent, down from the state’s rate of 77 percent, and fourth lowest in Louisiana.
The St. Landry Parish 2016 graduation rate had declined from 67.7 percent for the class of 2006, which is a 1.1 percent drop in the graduation rate over 10 years.
The parish’s highest graduation rate was 74.6 percent for the class of 2014 and the lowest was 63.2 percent for the 2010 class.
The graduation rates were included in a report from the state Department of Education released Friday.
St. Landry Parish Superintendent Patrick Jenkins, who came on the job in October 2016, said the numbers are disappointing.
The parish numbers include a high of 95 percent of Magnet Academy for Cultural Arts students graduating in four years to a low of 57 percent at Opelousas High School.
“We have to fix Opelousas High School so it doesn’t pull so much on the district score,” Jenkins said Monday.
“I think it starts in elementary school,” he said of the graduation rates.
“If we can prevent students from being three and four years behind before they get to high school we have a better chance of helping them succeed. If they get in ninth grade and ... if they are 17, 18 years old in ninth grade, then that can cause some challenges,” Jenkins said.
The Magnet Academy in Opelousas is drawing on students from the same elementary schools as other high schools, he said.
In Acadia Parish, the graduation rate was 86.3 percent in 2016, up from 63.6 percent in 2006 — a 22.7 percent increase.
In Evangeline Parish, the 2016 graduation rate was 68.5 percent, up from 67.1 percent in 2006 — a 1.4 percent increase.
The percentage of students graduating with a diploma in four years from St. Landry Parish schools were:
— 95 percent at the Magnet Academy for Cultural Arts;
— 76 percent at North Central High School;
— 73 percent at Port Barre High School;
— 73 percent at Eunice High School;
— 69 percent at Beau Chene High School; and
— 57 percent at Opelousas Senior High School.
School district with lower graduation rates than St. Landry Parish are Madison Parish, 66.4 percent; City of Baker, 60.5 percent; and Baton Rouge Recovery School District, 59.1 percent.
The education department news release said the state results “highlighted challenges, however, that persist in the education levels of many Louisiana students and graduates. In spite of profound gains in recent years, African-American students and students with disabilities continue to graduate and earn credentials at lower rates than the general population.”
State Superintendent John White said, “Our policies are working. But there is much more left to be done. Even today, too many students do not graduate on time, and too many graduates are not clearly qualified for the next phase of education. These challenges often play out along lines of race, class, language, and disability.”
Highlights pointed by the education department include:
— Nearly 39,000 students-about 77 percent of the graduation cohort-graduated with a diploma on time in 2016. Graduation has steadily risen over the past five years, with this year’s class maintaining record gains made by the class of 2015. More than 3,500 more students graduated in 2016 than did in 2012. Louisiana has set a goal of raising its high school graduation rate to 90 percent by 2025.
— The Class of 2016 included graduation rates of 71.4 percent for African American students; 71.2 percent for economically-disadvantaged students; and 45.1 percent for students with disabilities. All of these results reflect long-term gains and maintain increases from 2015. They also reflect continued gaps between these groups of students and the general population.
— Forty-three percent of the Class of 2016 earned early college credit or a statewide industry-based credential, valued in high-wage industries, a 6 percent increase since 2013. The percentage of students earning particularly advanced credentials-such as passing an AP or CLEP test, or earning an National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) level-two credential in a craft trade-increased to 10 percent, up from 4 percent in 2013.
— About 7,000 more students completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in 2016 than in 2013, affording them greater access to post-secondary education and training. That number has continued to rise in 2017.
— Nearly 2,500 more graduates in the Class of 2016 were eligible for TOPS than in the class of 2012, also sustaining record gains made by the Class of 2015.