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Osceola presents graduation-rate gains; Liberty High posts 12-point increase
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Shanoff told the board the district closed most of its gap with the state in class of 2024 graduation rates, highlighted major gains at Liberty High and specialty schools that achieved 100% graduation, and described tools and interventions the district is using to continue improvement.
Superintendent Dr. Shanoff presented the school district—s class of 2024 graduation-rate data to the Osceola County School Board on Feb. 11, reporting that district metrics have risen and that several schools posted double-digit gains.
Dr. Shanoff told the board that "graduation rates are lagging indicators" and explained the mechanics the district uses to track and support students. He said the 89% figure commonly reported is an aggregated graduation-rate number and added that "our rate for our schools isn't actually, 88.8. It's actually 91%." He highlighted Liberty High School—s jump from 76% to 88% and said three specialty high schools —Neo City Academy, Osceola County School for the Arts, and the professional technical high school—reached 100% graduation.
The presentation placed the district—s results in context: Dr. Shanoff noted statewide graduation requirements are currently the most stringent they—ve been and that recent gains reflect student-by-student interventions. He described the district—s use of a graduation Power BI dashboard to monitor progress and said the district is working with Graduation Alliance to locate and re-enroll students who have left the cohort.
Dr. Shanoff walked the board through subgroup trends, pointing to gains in several categories and ongoing disparities. He said Liberty High—s graduation rate for students with disabilities increased by nearly 10 percentage points and that Liberty—s free-and-reduced-lunch subgroup rose by 18.7 points. Gateway High School—s English-language-learner rate rose by almost 13 points.
Board members pressed for more detail. Miss Castillo asked whether boys are lagging behind girls in graduation rates; Dr. Shanoff said boys are overrepresented in the first three withdrawal codes (adult education/GED, certificate of completion, dropout) and that the district—s school-level supports are gender‑neutral. He acknowledged the gap persists and agreed to provide a breakdown of the three withdrawal codes and further demographic detail.
On test and concordance options, Dr. Shanoff said students meet state assessment graduation requirements through the algebra I end-of-course exam or the 10th-grade ELA test, or by meeting concordant scores on the SAT, ACT or the Classical Learning Test (CLT). He said the district continues to register students for SAT and ACT administrations while also offering the CLT on campuses as an additional pathway to meet concordant-score requirements.
Dr. Shanoff framed graduation as the district's "anchor" metric and credited coordination with community partners, including Osceola Prosper, for rising college-going rates: he said the county's Prosper program increases access to postsecondary enrollment for local graduates.
The board did not take a vote on the presentation. Trustees requested additional, disaggregated data on withdrawal codes and subgroup trends; Dr. Shanoff said the district will provide those details to the board.
The presentation and discussion closed with praise for principals and staff and a pledge to continue monitoring student-by-student progress.
