The effects of the COVID pandemic are being credited with a slight downturn in the graduation rates at schools in the Hernando County School District. The annual Florida State Department of Education (FDOE) report, released earlier this month, contained the graduation figures.
According to Hernando County School District Spokesperson Karen Jordan, the district’s graduation rates climbed steadily and exceeded the state average since the 2017-2018 academic year. However, COVID-19 disrupted that trend, she said.
According to current FDOE figures, the district’s 2022 graduation rate is 89 percent, still higher than the state average of 87.3 percent. Collectively though, graduation rates at district schools fell 2 percent over the district’s 2021 rate of 91 percent.
Hernando School District Superintendent John Stratton said that the district has put into place new systems to monitor student learning progress and will use the FDOE data to develop more systems to bring the district’s graduation rate even higher. “While the drop is slight, our school and district leaders will take this data and develop a plan to address their school’s results,” John Stratton said. “Their goal remains 100% on-time graduation, and they remain committed to working with their staff, students, and parents to meet that goal.”
Specifically, graduation rates for 2022 are:
Central High: 89.1 percent, down from 91 percent in 2021
Hernando High: 84.1 percent, down from 86.2 percent
Nature Coast Technical: 94.3 percent, down from 94.5 percent
Springstead High: 89.7 percent, down from 92.5 percent
Weeki Wachee High: 93.5 percent, down from 93.7 percent
Hernando eSchool: 83.9 percent, down from 94.2 percent
The state graduation rate is 87 percent, down from 90.1 percent, according to the FDOE report.
