This month, the graduation rate statistics were released, showing an increase of 2.5% from 80.6% in 2023 to 83.1% in 2024.
The statistics were presented to the Carson City School Board last week.
The 2023 school year held the second-lowest graduation rate in the past decade, beat only by 2016’s 80.31%. The highest in the past nine years was 2019 with an 86.79% graduation rate.
Graduation rates are determined by the number of students in the adjusted cohort that earn regular high school diplomas divided by the number of students who were first enrolled in the high school as freshmen, plus students who transferred in later and subtracting those who transferred out.
When it comes to how Carson City is stacking up with other districts statewide, the numbers tend to be all over the place. While Carson City was the lowest between Clark, Washoe, and the state as a whole last year, in 2021 it beat all three groups with an 85.7% graduation rate, and in 2018, all groups were within about one percentage score of each other.
For 2024, the statewide graduation rate was 81.6%, though this information was not available to trustees at the time of the meeting. Clark held a similar rate of 81.5%, and Washoe an 81.9%.
However, similarly-sized nearby districts such as Lyon and Douglas saw higher graduation rates for their students at 87.6% and 88.1% respectively.
Carson High’s reported numbers fall into this range on its own, with an 89.4% graduation rate. However, the Pioneer rate of 78.0% brought the overall statistic down to 83.1%.
Story County’s graduation rate fell the furthest, with a 77.4% down from 97.4%, although this accounted for only 24 students.
In total, the 2024 school year resulted in 478 graduates in Carson City, 97 non-graduates, and the district granted 56 adult diplomas.
Adult diplomas are not something we champion within our district. We’ve spoken with high school leadership about the fact that it should be a last choice for students when there’s another route to the college and career ready diploma
Of these, 439 graduates were from Carson High School, and 39 from Pioneer High. From CHS, 52 students were non-graduates, with 29 receiving an adult diploma, and 11 students from Pioneer were listed as non-graduates, with seven receiving an adult diploma.
Adult diplomas reduce the required credits necessary for standard graduation and are offered to groups such as foster children, teen parents, or \ students whose parents are in the military, who might otherwise forego a diploma altogether.
Those students who receive adult diplomas no longer count as “graduates” within the statistics, but rather, as transfer-outs.
“Adult diplomas are not something we champion within our district,” said Tasha Fuson, associate superintendent for educational services. “We’ve spoken with high school leadership about the fact that it should be a last choice for students when there’s another route to the college and career ready diploma.”
When broken into ethnicities, graduation rates differ. The highest graduation rate by ethnicity is 92.9% for Asian/Pacific Islander students, followed by Native American students at 92.3% and the lowest graduation rate by ethnicity is Hispanic/Latino at 80.5%, followed by multiracial at 82.6%, and white/caucasian at 84.7%.
The majority of students registered in the CCSD identify as either white or Hispanic/Latino.
Full state graduation rates for each county, as well as broken into ethnicities and special populations, can be found here.
