The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) recently released the 2013-14 preliminary data on statewide school grades and graduation rates, and the Suwannee County School District has improved in several areas compared to years past.

“We were extremely pleased with the progress made by Branford High School and Suwannee High School with regards to their 2013-14 school grades and graduation rates,” said Superintendent of Schools Jerry Scarborough. “BHS, under the leadership of Dr. Jimmy Wilkerson, went from a ‘C’ school to a ‘B’ school and was only 17 points away from being an ‘A’ school. Their graduation rate increased from 74 percent to 89 percent.

“SHS, under the leadership of Ted Roush, remained a ‘C’ school, but would have been a ‘B’ school if the state had not increased the number of points necessary to be a ‘B’ school,” continued Scarborough. “Their graduation rate increased from 58 percent to 79 percent. Our District-wide graduation rate increased from 59 percent to 76 percent.

BHS is one of 55 high schools in Florida to have improved its school grade.

Overall, the District improved to a “C” grade from last year’s “D.”

High school grades typically come out much later than elementary and secondary school grades, which were released in July.

According to the FDLOE, school grades are used to communicate to the public how well a school is performing and are calculated using assessment data on student achievement and learning gains. High schools were graded on a combination of student assessment performance and learning gains, acceleration participation, graduation rate, and college readiness in reading and math.

For high school graduation rates, the District has jumped 17.1 percent since last year with 76.6 percent of graduates obtaining a standard diploma. Only 1.1 percent of 2014’s 350 seniors dropped out; 11.1 percent were held back or still enrolled; 4.6 percent earned special diplomas; and 6.6 percent earned certificates of completion, leaving a total of 87.8 percent of 2014 seniors passing high school. The state average graduation rate for standard diplomas is 76.1 percent, an 11-year high.

“I’m proud that Florida’s graduation rate has reached an 11-year high of 76.1 percent,” said FLDOE Commissioner Pam Stewart. “This is truly a testament to Florida’s hard-working teachers, principals, and administrators who help our students achieve success. I also want to commend the high school graduating classes of 2014 for the commitment they made to earn a diploma.”