Schools show well in cohort grad rates

Alleghany County Schools reports one of the highest cohort graduation rates, 82.2 percent, when compared to the most of the surrounding areas.

Also, the Alleghany Schools' percentage exceeds that of the state cohort graduation percentage of 68.1. The information is based on the first four-year cohort graduation rate, released last week by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

Alleghany County Schools Superintendent Jeff Cox said he is pleased with the results and the system will continue to work to increase the four-year cohort graduation rates closer to 100 percent.

"There is a certain percentage of kids who haven't quit school but (need) more than four years to graduate," Cox commented. "Relative to the state and the rest of the region, we're doing very well."

He noted the reported four-year cohort graduation rate of 82.2 shows the rate of students who were able to complete high school in a four- year period. Meanwhile, another form of measuring dropout numbers is the annual dropout rate, which has several means of defining a "dropout."

According to the calculation information, a dropout is a student who was enrolled in school at some time during the previous school year, which is the reporting year; was not enrolled on the 20th day of the current school year; has not graduated high school or completed a state or district-approved educational program; and does not meet reporting exclusions of having transferred to another public school district, private school, home school or state/district approved educational program or the student is temporarily absent.

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