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La Grande Pride
March 2020 • www.lagrandesd.org
PR
GRADUATION RATE PUBLISHED
La Grande’s response to latest ODE report
On January 23, the
Oregon Department of
Education (ODE) released
its report on the 2018-19
graduation rates for school
districts in Oregon.
This is the 4-year cohort
graduation rate, the per-
centage of students who
earn a standard diploma
within four years of enter-
ing high school.
The La Grande School
District’s graduation rate is
79.87%, which is down from
gthe previous year’s rate of
86.42%.
La Grande School Dis-
trict Superintendent George
Mendoza said that district
administration did a careful
analysis of the Class of 2019
graduates to break down
the numbers, track students
and interpret the apparent
decrease in graduation rate.
The resulting analyses
showed that seven of those
students are in continu-
ing enrollment, meaning
they are staying in school
at LHS. Twelve students
from 2018-19 earned their
GEDs and were included in
the 4-year cohort complet-
er rate, which is 87.42%.
Thirteen students from the
Class of 2019 out of 150 stu-
dents were true non-com-
pleters.
Mendoza also said the
district has established
several systems to support
students in various ways,
not only academically. These
include adding a high school
con
in p
be u
seco
past
mai
all d
load
grad
to lo
of an
staff
a th
fund
5-ye
coun
to th
ing
no s
is im
earl
thro
ESD
Lea
as
offic
thes
are
stud
success counselor, more
Career and Technical Ed-
ucation (CTE) courses, an
in-school health center and
more robust mental health
and behavioral supports for
students.
“We have a lot of import-
ant systems in place to help
students succeed, and we
will continue to utilize those
systems,” said Mendoza.
“The goal in our strate-
gic plan is to exceed state
averages in all areas and
we continue to work hard
toward that.”
According to Scott Car-
penter, the district’s director
of education programs, La
Grande’s graduation rate
has remained steady around
80% for several years, but
the 5-year cohort completer
rate has hovered around
88% to 90%, and this year’s
rate was 93.9%. This rate in-
cludes students who earned
a GED, or an extended or
adult high school diploma
within five years of entering
high school.
“As a district, we focus on
completers and on any good
outcome for kids, even if
that takes longer than four
years and may not mean
a standard diploma,” said
Carpenter. “Every story is
different and sometimes
includes something other
than a standard diploma.
We work with students and
families to help make these
decisions.”
Carpenter enumerated
several program initiatives
that engage students and
the
low
the
help them work toward
dist
graduation. These include: cam
The REACH Program, Tiger can
Ambassadors (student men- “buz
torship program), ASPIRE buil
Program, CTE Pathways
Program, and a program
on t
called AVID that will start that
next year.
roof
“We will continue to use mai
Measure 98 funds,” he said,
“and our upcoming Student and
Investment Account (SIA) leak
funds to continue to devel- Ann
op strategies to engage our dist
students.”
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