Vance County Schools will not be dead last in cohort graduation rates another year, according to district administrators.
Superintendent Ronald Gregory said new initiatives are well underway to get students graduating on time. So far, one-on-one coaching and vocational programs have helped.
In May, career and technical education director Willa Clark told the board of education that Vance County students in the program exceeded state goals in reading and math, graduation and secondary school completion.
Across the school system, about 415 seniors graduated and received $2.5 million in scholarships this spring. Graduation cohort rates are expected to be released within the next 30 days.
Gregory said the district should start seeing the results soon of their efforts soon.
“Our graduation rate won’t be in the 60s like it was last year,” he said. “We are looking at a increase of about 9 percent.”
Last year, the district’s rate for students entering ninth grade and graduating after four years was 64.9 percent — a rank of 115 out of 115 school systems in the state. The state average was 82.5 percent.
Vance was 113 of 115 at 68.2 percent in 2013, and 111 of 115 at 68.2 percent in 2012. Its graduation rate has regressed in two of the past six years (59.5 percent in 2007 to 49.3 percent in 2008).
“We were slapped with the graduation rate last year,” Gregory said.
Assistant superintendent Trixie Brooks said they are still finding avenues to help students who are behind.
“We are not relaxing,” she said. “We are spreading our work further.”