An illustration shows several Clarke Central High School students sitting at the graduation ceremony with empty seats next to them. CCSD’s graduation rate has declined for the past four years whilst Georgia’s state graduation rate has risen which some blame COVID-19 for. “Only seniors will remember (the 2020-21 high school year) where we were in, we were out, it was a hot mess. Then, the next year, their junior year, it was like a free-for-all. We came back, but people weren’t ready to be back in that mentality,” CCHS Associate Principal Dr. Summer Smith said. “I would say that their senior year was the best year, but they were seniors, and so the damage had already been done.” Illustration by Sam Harwell
The CCSD’s declining graduation rate is nothing short of alarming, but before community members panic, they need to recognize the complicated contributing factors.
After the Georgia Department of Education released their graduation data for the 2022-23 school year on Oct. 10, 2023, members of the Clarke County School District community certainly had reason to be concerned.
A districtwide four-year graduation rate of 75.4% is a precipitous fall from the district’s 81.4% rate in 2019, especially against the backdrop of Georgia’s overall four-year graduation rate increase from 82.0% to 84.4% in that same time.
A graph shows a four year trend of declining graduation rates at Clarke Central High School. The district has struggled in the past years due to several reasons, the major one being COVID-19. “Last year’s graduating class were freshmen when (school shut down) in March and so their whole high school career was different every year,” CCHS Associate Principal Dr. Summer Smith said. Graphic by Luke Shannon
The situation is markedly better at Clarke Central High School, which returned a 80.1% four-year graduation rate in 2023, while Classic City High School’s actually rose from 68.4% to 75% and Cedar Shoals High School’s rate dipped to 69.5% from 71.2%.
The data tells a damning story: while the state of Georgia excelled as a whole, CCSD schools saw regression across the board.
The district certainly recognized the sheer gravity of the situation, when, in just the second sentence of the Oct. 10, 2023 press release regarding the state’s release of the graduation rate data, they addressed the worrying decline, saying “CCSD fully realizes that there are improvements to be made.”
All that is to say that concern, even alarm, over the state of the CCSD’s graduation data is more than warranted. Athens community members deserve the best education their schools can offer, so it’s disheartening to see nearly 50 fewer students graduating as compared to 2019.
But with that being said, community members shouldn’t panic – at least not yet.
For one, the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced all CCSD schools onto a virtual platform, is still having a profound impact on the rate, as CCHS Associate Principal Dr. Summer Smith revealed.
“Only seniors will remember (the 2020-21 high school year) where we were in, we were out, it was a hot mess. Then, the next year, their junior year, it was like a free-for-all. We came back, but people weren’t ready to be back in that mentality,” Smith said. “I would say that their senior year was the best year, but they were seniors, and so the damage had already been done.”
Compounding the struggles of the pandemic was CCSD’s own internal changes, which certainly impacted the district’s strategy to increase graduation rates.
Three superintendents have led the district since 2019, when graduating seniors were freshmen, while Superintendent Dr. Robbie P. Hooker has barely had a full year at the helm since his October 2022 appointment.
Three superintendents have led the district since 2019, when graduating seniors were freshmen, while Superintendent Dr. Robbie P. Hooker has barely had a full year at the helm since his October 2022 appointment.
Hooker and the CCSD have already announced their own plan to combat the CCSD’s waning graduation rates, namely 2024’s five-year Strategic Plan, which aims to “make significant progress in changing the trajectory of our district through yearly action plans,” according to Hooker.
Hooker and the CCSD have already announced their own plan to combat the CCSD’s waning graduation rates, namely 2024’s five-year Strategic Plan, which aims to “make significant progress in changing the trajectory of our district through yearly action plans,” according to Hooker.
Until Hooker and the CCSD have had proper time to begin implementing their program in the district, the CCSD community can’t truly know whether the district will make progress on the issue.
It might be hard to hear, but in the face of what might be best described as a graduation crisis, community members must take the falling data with a definite, if hard to swallow, grain of salt.
For now.
