Not every senior at Brown County High School walked across the graduation stage last June, but the school’s graduation rate continues to be close to 100 percent.

Of the 161 students in the 2018 class, 157 received a diploma. That makes the school’s graduation rate 97.5 percent, which is a slight decrease from 2017’s 98.01 percent.

For the first time, the Indiana Department of Education released two graduation rates for schools. One rate is based on the state calculation methods and the other was figured under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

Under the ESSA, the total graduation rate for BCHS was 96.9 percent, with 157 students graduating out of a total “cohort” group of 162. This calculation method counted one more student in the cohort than the state did, which accounted for the slight percentage difference.

“It is great to see, obviously, positive statistics,” BCHS Principal Matt Stark said.

“My concern is no matter what the percentage is, we need to talk about the kids where we didn’t come up to 100 percent. When we don’t come up to 100 percent, that represents actual people. Actual students. Actual kids. So when we don’t hit 100 percent of our cohort graduating, I think we always need to continue to ask the question why and what happened.”

Stark took over as principal at Brown County High School at the beginning of this school year. Former principal Shane Killinger is now principal at Sprunica Elementary School.

Killinger said that two students didn’t graduate because they decided to drop out when they turned 18. School staff went to the home of one of those students, trying to find that teen, he said.

“Both of them, we had been creative with and altered their schedules,” he said. “(They) just chose not to graduate, didn’t complete the requirements and just didn’t graduate.”

The other two students who weren’t counted as graduates received certificates of completion instead of diplomas. They completed the high school’s life skills program, as they were on individualized education plans (IEPs). Certificates of completion are not counted in the graduation rate.

“They satisfied all of the requirements from the state. They got to take part in graduation. In our opinion they are successful, they graduated, and they did what they were supposed to do, but the state still counts that against us because they did not get a general or Core 40 (diploma),” Killinger said.

Of the 157 graduates, 147 graduated without a waiver. Students receive waivers when they don’t pass the ISTEP test but fulfill other requirements, like taking the test each time and participating in remediation classes. Killinger said not all of those students have IEPs, but the majority do.

The nonwaiver graduation rate for BCHS was 90.7 under the federal guidelines and 91.3 under the state.

Both the state and federal graduation rates for BCHS are higher than the state average. The state’s average graduation rate is 88 percent including both private and public schools. The federal rate is 87 percent.

Students who earn a general diploma, Core 40 diploma, or academic honors or technical honors diploma are counted in the state’s method. The same goes for federal, but it also counts students with “significant cognitive disabilities” who earn an alternate diploma, according to the Indiana State Board of Education.

Students who need more than four years in high school to graduate or students who obtain their GED are not counted as graduates under either method.

“We’re never satisfied,” Stark said about BCHS’s score. “The only time we can be satisfied is if it’s at 100 percent. … If it’s 97 percent, and those three kids came back for another year and finished, then, OK, we still solved that. If they didn’t finish and they didn’t get anything, that becomes a problem. … We need to make sure we are accountable and answer to that kid.”

Graduation rates can be used as trend data, but Stark said he is more interested in finding out the reasons why students didn’t graduate and how the school can help prevent something like that in the future.

“Ultimately, I want us to be doing stuff that helps them and not get caught up in the statistical piece of things. But we do have to look at trend data to see where we are. I don’t ever want us to boiled down to a single stat, like graduation rates or testing percentage,” he said.

Stark said the 2018 graduation rates compared to years past show consistency with no big dips or increases. But that the focus still must remain on why students are not graduating.

“There are some of those kids that walk across the stage that this is huge they made it, partly because of people supporting them and partly because they just kicked it into gear and did it themselves. Everybody has a diploma; some had to work a lot harder to get those diplomas,” Stark said.

“It’s about relationship with people. … It’s about the teacher, secretary, custodian, cook. It’s about somebody who took a personal interest. It’s a member of a church, parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt. … It’s why I give the speech at graduation practice that graduation isn’t just about you; it’s about everybody who helps you get to here and you.”

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Brown County High School

2017-2018: 97.52 percent (state)

2017-2018: 96.91 percent (federal)

2016-17: 98.03 percent

2015-16: 99.30 percent

2014-15: 90.10 percent

2013-14: 92.30 percent

2012-13: 91.20 percent

2011-12: 91 percent

2010-11: 94.30 percent

2009-10: 89.30 percent

2008-09: 89.30 percent

Statewide average

2017-2018: 88.12 percent (state)

2017-2018: 87.36 percent (federal)

2016-17: 87.19 percent

2015-16: 89.07 percent

2014-15: 88.90 percent

2013-14: 90 percent

2012-13: 88.60 percent

2011-12: 88.70 percent

2010-11: 87.10 percent

2009-10: 85.90 percent

2008-09: 83.30 percent

SOURCE: Indiana Department of Education

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