Most districts around the Golden Triangle saw improvements in their four-year graduation rates and dropout rates during the 2024-2025 school year compared to five years prior.
Mississippi Department of Education on Feb. 19 released its statewide and school district graduation and dropout rates. The statewide graduation rate reached its highest percentage in at least the last 10 years at 90.8% and dropout rates reached their lowest in that same timeframe at 7%, according to the data.
A four-year graduation rate is the percentage of students who graduate within four years after enrolling in the ninth grade.
While some districts saw marginal changes to graduation and drop-out rates compared to the 2023-2024 academic year, all area school districts saw improvements from 2019-20.
CMSD
At Columbus Municipal School District the four-year graduation rate for the most recent academic year was 81.2%, which dropped 3.1% from the 2023-2024 academic year. Similarly, the dropout rate increased from 13% to 13.7% over that time frame.
However, the district showed a nearly 10% increase in four-year graduation rates since the 2019-2020 school year. The dropout rate for the district also improved, decreasing by 1.9% during that same timeframe.
Superintendent Craig Chapman said in recent years the district has launched programs aimed at improving the graduation rate, like “Operation Graduation” at Columbus High School, where students meet with administration twice each year to help assess their progress toward graduation.
“These meetings provide clarity and accountability – ensuring that every student understands the credits they have earned, the milestones they have achieved and the areas where additional focus is needed,” Chapman wrote in an email to The Dispatch.
Chapman also said the district tries to reinforce good behavior for those students who succeed academically and who meet attendance benchmarks. Both have contributed to improving the rates, he said.
LCSD
Lowndes County School District improved its graduation rate by 2.7% from the 2023-2024 academic year to 93.6% last school year. The district also improved its dropout rate by 1.5% over that same timeframe from 6% to 4.5%, returning to the same mark as five years ago.
The most recent graduation rate also marks a 2.7% improvement from where the district was five years ago.
Superintendent Sam Allison said while he is happy about the improvement to both rates, he recognizes there is still work to be done.
“We recognize that as long as that (graduation) rate is below 100%, our work is not complete,” Allison wrote in an email to The Dispatch. ”Our commitment is clear: every student who has the ability to earn a high school diploma will be given every opportunity, resource, and support necessary to achieve that goal.”
While Allison did not name any specific programs or activities the district has done over the last five years to improve its rates, he did note that the district’s teachers, counselors and administrators all play a key role in helping a child to graduate from high school.
SOCSD
Last academic year, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District graduated 89.7% of its seniors, which was an increase from its rate of 88.3% the previous academic year. The district also saw a decline in its dropout rate, going from 10.2% to 8.6%in 2024-2025.
SOCSD over the last five years also improved its graduation rate by 13.4% and decreased its dropout rate by 6.7%.
Haley Montgomery, communications director for SOCSD, said during the same timeframe, the district has implemented several programs aimed at helping students to succeed and graduate over four years, including hiring a parent liaison to help directly involve parents in their children’s education.
Montgomery said the district also partners with Oktibbeha County Judge Lee Ann Turner to address issues of truancy, absenteeism and keeping kids in school.
Continuing improvements for both graduation rates and dropout rates at the district is an issue that’s going to take time to see real strides, Montgomery said.
“We want to try to intervene before (there is an issue),” Montgomery said. “… It’s a complex problem. It’s not just (an) easy (fix). It starts way before high school in dealing with just helping students get to a place where they’re able to graduate.”
West Point, Noxubee and MSMS
West Point Consolidated School District graduation rate improved to 89.2% from 75.6% in the last academic year. WPCSD dropout rate saw a more significant drop going from 16.4% to 9.5%.
Since the 2019-2020 academic year WPCSD’s graduation rate has increased by 9.1%, while its dropout rate improved from 14% to 9.5% over that same timeframe.
Noxubee County School District’s graduation rate rose to 88.9% from 81.3% just a year before, and it has increased by 8.8% since the 2019-2020 academic year.
Noxubee’s dropout rate dropped from 15.6% during the 2023-2024 academic year to 9.3% in the most recent school year. Over the last five years the district’s dropout rate has increased 0.8% from 8.5% in the 2019-2020 school year.
Mississippi School for Mathematics and Sciences four-year graduation and dropout rates remained steady over the last two years at 99.1% and 0.9%, respectively. From five years ago the school saw slight improvements from its four-year graduation rate of 98.5% and its dropout rate of 1.9%.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 26 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
