Many factors figure into a school district's accountability with the state. One of those factors is graduation rate, and the Columbia School District has a handle on that one, ranking top-10 in the state.
Every year in January, the Mississippi Department of Education releases graduation rates of school districts. This year, Columbia School District was ranked eighth in the state with 96% of the students graduating on time. The dropout rate is just 1.7%, good for No. 6 in the state.
"We are very excited and thrilled about it," Superintendent Jason Harris said. "The idea is to get them in and graduated with a four-year high school diploma. If you don't have a high school diploma, you are pretty much starting behind."
The formula comes from the federal government, and this year's figures pertain to students who graduated in May 2022. The state started following these students in 2018 in their freshman year.
The rate is 85.7% for students with disabilities, which is not in the top-10, but is very good. Those students receiving a certificate instead of a diploma are considered to be dropouts for the purpose of this rating.
"That's better than some school's overall rate," Harris said. "We actually outscored the state on most subgroups. For example, the Columbia High School graduation rate for the African American population is 96% while it's 87.9% for the state."
Harris gives credit to all of the teachers from pre-K through high school and said it's a testament to the administration, teachers and counselors at the high school. He said the key is to maintain or improve the numbers each year.
He said the factors that most affect the numbers are involvement, high expectations and relationships.
"Students need to feel connected," he said. "After school activities help with that. It makes students want to come to school and be supportive."
