SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
FROM PAGE A1
GRADUATION:
tion numbers from both the
Innovative Learning Center,
the district’s alternative high
continued from page A1
school, and Hermiston High
with 75.9 percent. This School.
year’s reported graduation
Hermiston High School,
rates from Echo are more alone, actually reported an
than 22 percent greater than 88.9 percent four-year grad-
the state average, which is uation rate, which is an in-
72 percent.
crease of about 4.4 percent
While he is happy with from 2012-13.
the increased numbers this
Hermiston also boasts the
year, Echo Superintendent third-highest four-year grad-
Raymon Smith said one or uation and completer rates
two students dropping out for Hispanic students in the
of school can have a signif- state.
icant impact on the gradua-
Many
administrators
tion rates.
across the districts, however,
“Our goal is 100 per- say that the completion rate
cent,” he said. “We are among each of their schools
excited to see the numbers LV WKH PRVW LPSRUWDQW ¿J-
closer to where they should ure. Hermiston High School
be. I think that is a huge pat Principal Jocelyn Jones said
on the back of our teachers Hermiston works hard to get
… I credit it back to the in- DOO VWXGHQWV WR ¿QLVK VFKRRO
dividualized attention that with a diploma or credential
our staff pays the kids. I so they can be successful af-
think that is the biggest fac- ter graduation.
tor with the percentage as
“That is the most import-
high as it is.”
DQW´VKHVDLG³,ILWWDNHV¿YH
7KH 6WDQ¿HOG 6FKRRO years, who cares? What is
District had a graduation rate most important is that we get
of about 79 percent in 2013- them that diploma and that
14, up nearly 18 percent GED. We want every kid to
from the previous year.
walk out of here with either a
The Umatilla School diploma or their GED.”
District reported a gradua-
Five-year diploma and
tion rate of 67 percent. Even GED earners are not includ-
though the district’s rate this ed in the four-year gradua-
year is lower than the state WLRQGDWDEXWWKH\DUH¿JXUHG
average, it represents a 6 per- LQWRWKH¿YH\HDUJUDGXDWLRQ
cent growth over the previ- and completion data, respec-
ous year.
tively. The state average for
Hermiston School Dis- ¿YH\HDU FRPSOHWHUV ZDV
trict reported a 67.89 per- 82.15 percent for the 2013-
cent graduation rate for the 14 class.
2013-14 class, which is a
Hermiston reported a
slight drop from the 2012-13 ¿YH\HDU FRPSOHWHU UDWH RI
rate of 69.89 percent. Those 87.2 percent. Hermiston also
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HERALD FILE PHOTO
The Hermiston School District reported a 67.89 percent graduation rate this year for the 2013-
14 class. That is a decrease from its overall district rate of 69.89 percent in 2012-13. Included in
those Àgures hoZever are graduation numEers from Eoth the Innovative /earning &enter the
district·s alternative high school and Hermiston High School. Hermiston High School alone
actually reported an 88.9 four-year graduation rate this year up aEout 4.4 percent from 2012-13.
year percentage in the state
for Hispanic students at 82.9
percent.
6WDQ¿HOG UHSRUWHG D ¿YH
year completer rate of 89.4
percent, and Echo reported a
SHUFHQW¿YH\HDUFRP-
pleter rate.
8PDWLOOD UHSRUWHG D ¿YH
year completer rate of 75.3
percent, but because of an
input error, Superintendent
Heidi Sipe said their per-
centage actually should have
been 77.7 percent.
“The differences between
the two rates aren’t huge, but
WKH\DUHVLJQL¿FDQWZKHQLQ
a school district of our size,
nearly every student ac-
counts for an entire percent-
age point,” she said.
Sipe said the district has
since revised their data vali-
dation process to prevent fu-
ture errors.
Sipe said 14 students
dropped out of Umatilla
High School in 2013-14. Six
of those students, she said,
had been enrolled in the dis-
trict throughout their school
careers and had chronic
attendance issues. The oth-
er eight all moved to UHS
while in high school and will
continue to receive re-enroll-
ment or GED program sup-
port.
“Six kids is still too many,
but we’re making progress
and staff are quick to inter-
vene when kids are moving
off track in regards to gradu-
ating on time,” Sipe said.
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