Republic file photo A graduating student’s mortarboard is shown for Columbus North High School.
Bartholomew County high school’s graduation rates dipped for the Class of 2022, with all four high schools showing a decline in the percentage of students graduating.
In contrast, Indiana’s overall graduation rate is holding relatively steady compared to last year. For the class of 2022, 86.61% of Hoosier seniors graduated — 73,180 out of a cohort of almost 84,500, according to the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). In 2021, 86.69% of Indiana seniors graduated.
At a local level, 2022 graduation rates were as follows, according to state officials:
- Columbus North High School — 83.22%, down from its 84.09% rate in 2021
- Columbus East High School — 78.16%, down from its 85.86% rate in 2021
- Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. overall — 81.08%, down from 84.86% rate in 2021
- Hauser High School — 75.28%, down from its 93.42% in 2021
Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. Superintendent Shawn Price said that school officials do not believe its reported percentage to be accurate for 2022. According to the school’s data, 78 out of 89 students graduated in 2022, or about 87.6%. The state reported that only 67 out of 89 graduated.
Flat Rock-Hawcreek is working with the state to resolve the issue, which seems to involve some students being placed in incorrect catagories as still being in school.
As for BCSC, Superintendent Jim Roberts said that a decrease in graduation figures was anticipated, as the class of 2022 had three school years that were interrupted by COVID-19.
He added school officials will work to examine individual cases and circumstances that kept students — both at East and BCSC in general — from graduating. Their hope is that this will show what additional supports and systems are needed in order to remove barriers.
“What works well for one child may not work for another child,” said Roberts. “And we have to find ways to get that student through and graduated, regardless of what that alternative might be.”
He noted that when it comes to subgroups, BCSC students in the free and reduced meals category have experienced a “relatively significant” decline in graduation rates over the last few years. In 2022, 72.34% of these students graduated, compared to 91.60% of students with paid meals.
BCSC data shows 75.31% of BCSC students with free and reduced meals graduated in 2021. The rate was 84% in 2020 and 82% in 2019.
According to the IDOE, 2020 graduation rates reflect a waiver of the Graduation Qualifying Exam requirement for that year’s cohort, as the test could not be administered amid the pandemic. Consequently, state officials advise caution when comparing 2020 graduation rates to those of other school years.
At a statewide level, 83.74% of students on free and reduced meals graduated in 2022. For those with paid meals, 92.28% of students graduated.
“From a resource standpoint, when you think about what we’ve all been going through the last few years, there might be additional challenges with staying up to speed with the way that we’ve had to conduct education,” said Roberts, “so free and reduced lunch population percentage continuing to decrease is a concern and something for us to look at.”
He added that one piece of data that has surprised BCSC officials is that in 2022, the graduation rate for female students was lower than the rate for male students — 80.84% and 81.36%, respectively.
In 2021, however, BCSC’s female students had a graduation rate of 85.78%, as opposed to 83.96% for their male peers.
Roberts said the 2022 numbers are “very atypical.”
“We can look at school corporations across the state of Indiana, as well as the state average, and see that that’s just not typically the case,” he said.
At a statewide level, 88.73% of female students graduated in 2022, compared to 84.57% of male students.
In discussing graduation rates, BCSC Director of Secondary Education Bill Jensen highlighted iGrad and the McDowell Education Center as good resources for helping at-risk students graduate.
Program director Jennifer Steadman Ryan said earlier this year that iGrad students in the class of 2022 had a graduation rate of 96%.
However, while iGrad has a good success rate, its capacity is limited, said Roberts.
Mental health has a significant impact on academic success, and the school corporation sees increasing needs in this area on a daily basis, Roberts said.
Jensen also stated that BCSC needs to increase its in-person services for summer school, which is largely virtual.
In looking to the future, Roberts said that the class of 2023, like that of 2022, has also had three years of high school interrupted by COVID-19. While their senior year has been relatively normal, he speculated that the past interruptions may lead to “similar outcomes” in terms of academic performance.
Officials are also concerned about this year’s sophomores, whose “whole middle school career was disrupted,” said Jensen. This has had an impact on students’ behavior and academic performance.
He predicted that declines in academic performance following COVID is “probably going to continue for a while.”
“This impacts several classes,” said Jensen. “And we’ve talked about how we’re going to see this dip in test scores and in graduation rates probably for a couple of years.”
