Manatee County reports graduation rate rise to 85.7% for the Class of 2024

The School District of Manatee County reported that the Class of 2024's graduation rate rose to 85.7% from 82.3% the prior year, district leaders told the school board at its Jan. 21 meeting.

"Thank you, chairman. We're excited to make this presentation to you this evening reporting the results of the graduation rate for the class of 2024," Superintendent Dr. Wysong said as he introduced the presentation.

District officials said the increase reflects a mix of school-level interventions, new credit-recovery and schedule-flex options, and stepped-up student-by-student monitoring. The presentation credited principals and teachers for targeted efforts and named Southeast High School as having the largest year-over-year gain.

"First of all, we never underestimate the power of the public school teacher," Southeast Principal Ginger Collins told the board. "The human side of these numbers ' is that every student at Southeast has an advocate on campus who sees in the student what they sometimes can't see in themselves." Collins listed several practices at Southeast that she said helped drive gains: aligned messaging across staff, multiple diploma pathways, extended-day remediation and visible testing supports.

District staff walked the board through how the state calculates the cohort graduation rate, noting it follows students who started ninth grade together and counts those who earned a standard diploma within four years. Officials stressed the difference between "dropouts" (students who withdrew and did not continue) and "non-grads" (students pursuing GED, adult education or a fifth year).

Deputy and executive-level staff described operational steps used to raise the rate: monthly data-monitoring meetings with principals, individualized graduation trackers for seniors, expansion of credit-recovery opportunities, pilot alternative scheduling at Bayshore High School (longer days or additional periods tailored to students who work or need different hours), and professional learning focused on students with disabilities and English-language learners.

Interim director of student services Lisa Lyon (introduced by district leadership during the presentation) described individualized casework and frequent school-level reviews that identify on-track status for each student. Research director Evan McCarthy was credited with providing granular data that schools use to track progress and to prioritize outreach.

Board members asked about the role of transfers and newcomers in the graduation calculations. Staff said a senior who enrolls in the district in their fourth year is counted in the Manatee cohort and can affect the local rate; staff also said the state publishes breakdowns by subgroup (including ESE) and that the district can provide further disaggregation on request.

Officials cautioned that state testing and historical COVID-era disruptions make year-to-year comparisons nuanced. They noted the district has continued attention on earlier intervention: monitoring freshmen GPAs and coordinating transitions from eighth grade to ninth grade to reduce the number of students who become off-track in high school.

The presentation closed with district leaders saying the work will continue across all four cohort years. "We're not done," Dr. Wysong said. "We're excited about the progress and we have further to travel."