Charles County graduation rate edges up; district flags overrepresentation in dropout data for Hispanic and multilingual students

District staff presented four- and five-year cohort graduation-rate data to the Charles County Board of Education on March 11, reporting a modest rise in the four-year rate for the class of 2024 and offering detail about which student groups are over- and underrepresented in the district’s dropout counts.

Assistant superintendent Steve Roberts and staff walked board members through cohort definitions and how the state’s accounting rules treat students who leave the district. Roberts said the district’s four-year cohort rate rose from 90.2% to 90.5% and that the five-year rate showed anticipated year-to-year shifts tied to cohort composition. He noted the state suppresses small subgroup data under certain thresholds.

Roberts and staff emphasized how state coding affects dropout attribution: students who leave during a cohort period without a confirmed transfer (for example, when whereabouts are unknown) are coded as dropouts (W50) and count against the school’s dropout rate. Roberts said district registrars code students’ exit reasons and that the district pursues record requests from receiving districts when possible to recode transfers.

The staff presentation also included subgroup breakout tables. Hispanic and multilingual learners were shown as overrepresented among students counted as dropouts compared with their share of the graduating cohort; conversely, economically disadvantaged students were not overrepresented in the dropout counts, the presentation said. Staff cautioned that some students who receive certificates rather than a regular Maryland diploma (for example, some students with the most significant disabilities) are reported separately and do not count toward the diploma graduation rate.

Doctor Maria Navarro and staff described supports intended to reduce dropout risk. Those include a ninth-grade tracker tool that counselors use to monitor credits each semester, expanded extended-learning opportunities, targeted summer programming and credit-recovery options (including online and summer classes). Navarro said the district prioritizes time-on-learning and has allocated local funds—separate from federal grant funds—to preserve extended-learning opportunities when federal funding declined.

Board members asked for additional disaggregated data at the school level and requested that staff provide more granular exit-reason detail to distinguish students who formally transferred, those who left the country, and those whose whereabouts are unknown. Roberts said the district can provide disaggregations but must comply with state suppression rules for small counts.

Staff said they will follow up with school-level reports and with an explanation of how the district tracks students who move out of state or return to another district. Navarro said the district also plans outreach to families and community partners to reduce risk factors for students who fall behind in credits, and she noted ongoing work with counselors to track student progress starting in ninth grade.