Superintendent flags low graduation rate after Carolina Demography benchmarking; board seeks cohort counts
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Summary
Superintendent Wesley Johnson presented Carolina Demography benchmarking showing Clinton City Schools compares favorably in several academic indicators but ranks low on four- and five-year graduation rates. Board members asked for raw cohort counts and discussed reinstating a focused dropout-prevention role to address persistently low graduation.
Superintendent Wesley Johnson used a Carolina Demography regional comparison during the Oct. 16 meeting to show Clinton City Schools's relative performance across multiple metrics and to highlight a pressing problem: the district's graduation rate remains well below peer districts in the same demography region.
Johnson told the board that, while the district ranks at or above regional means on several measures (notably EL progress and some tested-course rigor measures), "the 1 glaring area is graduation rate," and he asked staff to dig deeper into cohort-level counts so the board can see exactly how many students are not completing a four-year program. The transcript records the district's recent four-year cohort rate as roughly 77% and notes small year-to-year movement.
Board members asked for the underlying counts. Several members recalled past district practice of employing a dedicated dropout-prevention coordinator, and they asked the superintendent to provide historic cohort numbers and the raw head counts that drive the graduation-rate metric. The superintendent agreed to supply graduation and cohort data for the last several years and to present the material again in December.
District context provided in the meeting: Dr. Johnson noted factors that can depress cohort graduation rates in small districts, including students who move out of state or out of the country (which may result in incomplete records), and higher mobility among multilingual learner populations. Principal John Green and other administrators described building-level practices to increase graduation outcomes, including common assessments, targeted interventions, parent outreach and early monitoring of at-risk students.
Next steps: the superintendent and accountability staff will return with cohort counts, historical graduation data and proposed interventions; board members signaled interest in considering a reestablished, dedicated role to focus on dropout prevention and student re-engagement if the numbers indicate a concentrated opportunity for impact.