Graduation rate dips for CCSD’s Class of 2021
The Clark County School District had a nearly 81 percent graduation rate for the Class of 2021 — down by more than 2 percentage points from the previous year.
The Nevada Department of Education released numbers Wednesday for the state as a whole, as well as individual school districts.
Clark County, the state’s largest school district, with 20,792 students in the Class of 2021, had an 80.94 percent graduation rate, down from 83.17 percent in 2020.
The Class of 2021 is the second group of students who’ve graduated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related: Meet the unforgettable class of 2021
The school district operated under 100 percent distance learning starting in March 2020 before beginning to bring back students for at least some in-person classes in the spring, with a hybrid model — a mix of remote and in-person instruction — for high schoolers. Full-time in-person classes for all grade levels resumed this fall.
“The Class of 2021 experienced several unprecedented challenges, and this cohort of students, along with our educators and families, have demonstrated resilience throughout the last two school years,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert said in a news release announcing the results. “I commend these students, and we are infinitely proud to see our graduation rates increase in many of our school districts.”
The slight decrease in the state’s overall graduation rate and among some demographic groups “underscores the need for accelerated work” and the state is committed to supporting that work, Ebert said.
Statewide, the graduation rate was 81.31 percent — down from 82.57 percent compared with the Class of 2020, according to the release.
It was the fifth consecutive year, though, the rate has been above 80 percent.
Statewide, 13 of 17 school districts and the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority had higher graduation rates than the state average, the release said. And nine school districts saw their rates improve compared with 2020.
Five rural districts — Esmeralda, Storey, Lincoln, Humboldt and Pershing counties — posted graduation rates above 90 percent.
Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.
