Graduation rates have reached a new high in Juneau. Superintendent Mark Miller told the Juneau School Board on Tuesday that last school year, the district’s high school graduation rate increased to just about 85 percent.
Miller didn’t give the board his opinion on why the rate was higher. According to school district budget documents, the graduation rate for the prior school year was 78 percent.
Miller told the board that it was the highest graduation rate in the district’s history. He gave special recognition to Thunder Mountain High School’s Alaska Native students and the school’s students from lower income homes.
Miller said both group’s graduation rates reached about 100 percent last school year.
He said in the past, both groups have had trouble performing at the same level as other students. He said a decade ago the odds of an Alaska Native male graduating were less than a 50 percent chance of graduating.
Miller said he is proud of the graduates. He added that the district should take a moment to celebrate these results but they also need to continue trying to make progress for the future.
