Preliminary 2024 graduation data and Power Carson City 2027 metrics presented to trustees

Carson City School District leaders presented preliminary figures for the class of 2024 and an update on the district strategic plan during Tuesday’s meeting, outlining how changes to diploma reporting affect published graduation rates.

Ricky Medina explained that the cohort graduation rate calculation ties a student to the ninth‑grade cohort and that some students who earned an adult diploma are now counted as transfers rather than graduates in the published rate. He said preliminary district results show a mixed picture of diploma types: 122 college‑and‑career‑ready diplomas, 85 advanced diplomas, 271 standard diplomas and 62 adult diplomas.

"Up until October 1, those students could graduate and be counted in the cohort," Medina said while describing the methodology; he cautioned that state comparisons are not apples‑to‑apples because states use different diploma requirements and reporting methods.

Tasha Fuson added that the district’s local diploma requirements (for example, four years of math and three years of science at the district level) already position Carson City to meet a statewide push toward college‑and‑career readiness; she noted changes in what the state counts can make year‑to‑year comparisons difficult.

On the strategic plan (Power Carson City 2027), Superintendent Fuelling and staff outlined metrics that will be tracked regularly: staff vacancy at a benchmark point in the year (2.69% at last measurement), employee retention (about 93% retained year‑to‑year), student access to 1:1 devices (100%), and expansion of data collection for work‑based learning beginning January 1.

Next steps: staff will refine and reframe some metric reporting (to correct accountability‑year vs. school‑year references) and return to the board with cleaned data in the next update cycle.