https://www.washingtonpost.com...m_term=.4602c3b7ed38

D.C. Public Schools graduation rate on track to decline this year

Fewer high school seniors in the District are expected to receive a diploma in June than the year before, a sharp reversal for a school system that had celebrated a 20-point increase in its graduate rate since 2011.

Data released Thursday by D.C. Public Schools show that 42 percent of seniors attending traditional public schools are on track to graduate, while 19 percent are considered “moderately off-track,” meaning they could still earn enough credits to earn a diploma.

The likely drop in the graduation rate is the latest fallout from an investigation that cast doubt on the validity of diplomas awarded last year. The graduation rate in 2017 was 73 percent, but the probe revealed that one in three graduates received their diplomas in violation of city policy. Those students had walked across the graduation stage despite missing too many classes or improperly taking makeup classes.

Even if all of the students regarded as “moderately off-track” receive diplomas, the graduation rate this year would stand at about 61 percent — 12 percentage points below last year.

D.C. graduation rates reflect the percentage of students who receive their diplomas in four years. Twenty-six percent of students who started freshman year with the class of 2018 have either withdrawn or transferred out of the D.C. Public Schools system. The city still needs to determine how many of these students transferred to another school, and how many dropped out.

[D.C. schools graduate chronically absent students, chancellor acknowledges]

After the investigation into the 2017 graduation rate, the school system promised to stringently enforce long-ignored attendance policies, which state that students should fail a class if they are absent more than 30 times in a school year.

This is the first year the city has released graduation data months before diplomas are awarded, so it is unclear how the numbers compare to previous years, according to Michelle Lerner, spokeswoman for the school system.

“The point of this is transparency,” Lerner said.

At Anacostia High, the comprehensive high school with the smallest percentage of students on track to graduate, only 19 percent of seniors have passed or are passing the classes required to receive their diplomas. Twenty-five percent are considered “moderately off-track,” meaning they are failing one or two courses but can still earn credits through summer school or credit recovery programs.

At Ballou High — the school at the epicenter of the district’s graduation scandal — 27 percent of seniors are on track to graduate.

Wilson, the city’s highest-performing comprehensive high school, has 56 percent of students on track to receive their diplomas.

[Report calls into question validity of hundreds of diplomas]

The District’s magnet and application schools show much higher expected graduation rates. At Banneker, 82 percent of students are passing or have passed all courses required for graduation.

The school system also released data Thursday showing the status of students’ attendance records about three months before graduation.

At Ballou, 14 percent of seniors have already accrued 30 absences in a class, which automatically earns them a failing grade — the highest rate of any comprehensive high school. At Anacostia, that figure is 13 percent.

Nearly every senior at these two schools, according to the data released, have met with a counselor or school administrator about their graduation status. Most parents at these schools have met with a school employee about their children’s graduation status.

“We want to make sure that every graduate going forward has truly earned their diploma,” Lerner said. “We’re focused on making sure that the students who have graduated have earned their diploma and the community feels that way as well.”

In other news.....EBT and welfare participation increased.......