Henrico Schools' graduation rate declines, dropout rate increases

The Henrico County Public Schools' graduation rate has dropped during the past two years, while the dropout rate has risen – especially for Hispanic and English learner students, according to data presented to the Henrico School Board last week.

The Henrico graduation rate roughly mirrored the Virginia rate until 2018, when the Henrico rate (92.3%) rose above the state’s (91.6%). But in 2019, the Henrico rate fell to 90.8%, while the state’s rate remained steady at 91.5%.

This year, Henrico’s rate increased slightly – to 91% – but still was below the climbing statewide average of 92.3%.

The graduation rate is based on the 2016-2017 ninth-grade cohort of students, HCPS Director of Assessment, Research and Evaluation Tiffany Hinton told the board Oct. 8. (Students who earn a GED certificate or who complete high school without earning a diploma are not included in the on-time graduation rate by the Virginia Department of Education, Hinton said.)

The school system’s dropout rate for 2019 and 2020 was 6.7% – the highest it has been since 2012, Hinton said. This year, 270 Henrico students were reported as dropouts.

The cohort dropout rate is not an inverse of the graduation rate, Hinton told the board.

Dropouts are former students who:
• were enrolled in school at some time during the previous school year and were not enrolled on Oct. 1 of the current year, or
• were not enrolled on Oct. 1 of the previous year although expected to be in membership;
• and have not graduated from high school or completed an approved educational program and do not meet specific conditions.

The dropout rate includes students whose statuses are unconfirmed, meaning reported as a transfer to another division but discontinued public schooling instead, Hinton said.

The state dropout rate for 2019 was 5.6%, and it fell to 5.1% this year.

Overall, 58% of Henrico students who graduated this year earned advanced studies or IB diplomas, while 39% earned standard diplomas, and 3% earned applied studies diplomas, according to the data.

All student groups except for white and Asian students saw declining graduation rates and increasing dropout rates in 2020 compared to the 2018 rates.

Hispanic students and English learners saw the biggest changes. Hispanic students experienced a 9-percentage-point decrease in graduation rates and a 10.2-point increase in dropout rates. English-learner students experienced a 6.4-point decrease in their graduation rates, and a 9.8 point increase in their dropout rates.

The state data also showed the lowest graduation rates and highest dropout rates in Hispanic students and English learner groups, Hinton said.

The cause of the English-learner dropout rate varies, Director of High School Education Thomas Ferrell said. Some students need to work to support their families, and some come into the school system behind.

The school system is adding various support efforts during the current school year to address the issue, Ferrell said.

Attendance teams at high schools meet weekly, he said, and students have access to virtual and in-person tutoring. The division will conduct student focus groups and surveys to better determine how high schools can meet struggling students’ needs, and English-learner staff members will increasingly be at school improvement, attendance and at-risk meetings, he said.

Responding to a question from Tuckahoe District board member Marcie Shea, Hinton said that there is substantial overlap among the Hispanic and English-learning population

* * *

Our journalism is free to read, but it’s not free for us to produce. It requires time, research and analysis to provide fair, comprehensive, meaningful coverage of issues that matter to Henrico County. If you value education reporting like this, please consider a tax-deductible contribution to our Education Fund, made possible through a partnership with Facebook and the Local Media Foundation.