Porterville Unified School District (PUSD) graduated 85.4% of its students during the 2016-17 school year, according to data released last Thursday by the California Department of Education (CDE). Harmony Magnet Academy posted a perfect 100% graduation rate with the four other PUSD comprehensive high schools posting higher than 90 percent: Strathmore High (98.5%), Porterville High (96.9%), Monache High (92.9%), and Granite Hills High (92.5%).
Citrus High School increased its graduation rate to 73.6%.
Porterville Unified posted a higher graduation rate than the Tulare County benchmark (84.3%) and the state of California (82.7%) rate.
“Our goal has always been to ensure that students are college and career-ready with a focus on graduating from high school,” PUSD Superintendent Dr. Nate Nelson said. “Our teachers, administrators, and staff deserve thanks for continuing the efforts to provide a quality, public-school education for all of our students.”
Out of 1,335 socioeconomically disadvantaged students, PUSD graduated 84.0% (1,121 students). The Migrant Education program graduated 84.3% of its students in 2016-17 while students designated as English Learners graduated at a rate of (77.7%), outpacing the county and stage averages. PUSD also had higher graduation rates for its Special Education (68.8%) and homeless student population (79.7%) than the county and state averages.
The CDE is using a new methodology for calculating 2017 graduation rates, which makes it difficult to compare previous graduation rates. Among the changes impacting the calculation are the following:
- No longer removing students from the calculation who transfer to adult education programs or community college.
- No longer counting students who receive an adult education high school diploma as regular high school graduates.
- No longer counting students who pass the California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) as regular high school graduates.