Native American grad rates up at MCS, despite overall decrease

MASSENA -- Native American graduation rates at Massena Central have gone up during a time period where the overall rate went down, the district’s curriculum director told the school board at their Oct. 19 meeting.

Native American students graduated at a rate of 81.3 percent last year, up from 75 percent in 2015-16 and 79.4 percent in 2014-15, curriculum director Stephanie Allen said.

The overall graduation rate was 82.5 percent last year, down from 84.1 percent in 2015-16 and 85.2 percent in 2014-15, Allen said.

General education students graduated last year at a rate of 86.1 percent, 91.2 percent in 2015-16 and 89.2 percent in 2014-15, she said.

Last year, 61.3 percent of students with disabilities graduated, compared to 50 percent the previous two school years.

“Students with disabilities, to have them increase a good 10 percent, those are great things,” Allen told the board.

Economically disadvantaged students, which is defined as those receiving free or reduced lunch, graduated at a rate of 72.8 percent last year, 75.2 percent in 2015-16 and 71.9 percent in 2014-15.

Superintendent Patrick Brady said the number of dropouts went up last year by three students from the year before. He said 21 students, or 10 percent, dropped out in 2016-17 and 19, or 8.6 percent dropped out in 2015-16.

Allen said the figures are based on what they call a cohort, which means the group of students that started ninth grade at the same time and would have graduated together. She said the grad figures do not take into account students who didn’t graduate on time but will get their degree after a fifth year of school.

“This is not a high school issue. This is a K-12 issue. You have to prepare them all the way up through,” Brady said about the graduation rates.

“We believe our attendance strategies we’re working on in all of the buildings will help with that,” Allen said at the Oct. 19 meeting.