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Salem-Keizer reports 79.4% four-year graduation rate for 2024; district outlines supports to raise outcomes
Summary
Deputy Superintendent Naves and Director of High Schools Larry Ramirez told the board the district’s 2024 four‑year graduation rate was 79.4%, short of the 81.3% goal; staff highlighted targeted ninth‑grade supports, credit recovery and mentoring as strategies to increase on‑time graduation.
Deputy Superintendent Naves and Larry Ramirez, the district’s director of high schools, reported to the Salem‑Keizer School District Board of Directors that the district’s four‑year graduation rate for the class of 2024 was 79.4%, below the district goal of 81.3%.
Naves told the board the district saw a 0.3 percentage‑point increase from 2023 and stressed that the trend is upward but still short of the board’s target for 2024. Ramirez highlighted school‑level gains, notably a 5.65 percentage‑point increase at South Salem High School and a 4.63 point increase at North Salem; five of six comprehensive high schools are above the state average, Ramirez said.
Naves and Ramirez outlined the district strategies they credited with recent growth and that are intended to close remaining gaps: strengthened ninth‑grade teams that monitor student data, efforts to prioritize smaller ninth‑grade class sizes, expanded after‑school and Saturday supports, credit‑recovery courses during the school year and over the summer, and targeted “senior blitz” mentoring and wraparound services for seniors at risk of not graduating on time. Ramirez also pointed to career and technical education (CTE) programs, which the presentation noted graduate at rates above both district and state averages.
Board members asked for ways families and community members can help. Ramirez urged families to contact schools and attend parent‑teacher conferences to learn a student’s on‑track status. Board members emphasized community volunteer possibilities — such as tutoring, Saturday school support or mentoring — and noted that volunteers must complete district volunteer processes.
Ramirez provided sample school practices tied to improvement at South Salem, including team teaching where an English‑learner (EL) teacher co‑teaches with content teachers to provide language scaffolds, a dedicated EL support person who monitors progress at each grade level, and interventions that led to a reported 13 percentage‑point increase in ELL student graduations at that school.
The presentation concluded with a district emphasis on relationships: assigning mentors beyond the senior year to earlier grade levels so each student has an adult “person” tracking progress toward graduation.
