A goal of a 90 percent graduation rate may not be too far off for students at Albert Lea High School.

The Minnesota Department of Education released 2014 graduation rates Tuesday. Statewide, the graduation rate rose from 78.9 percent in 2013 to 81.2 percent in 2014.

But in Albert Lea, the numbers at the high school are even higher. Last year, 88.6 percent of Albert Lea seniors graduated. There were 185 total students at the start of the year, and 164 graduated.

Eight students dropped out, nine students are continuing and information for four students is unknown.

Districtwide, which includes ALHS and the Albert Lea Area Learning Center, the graduation rate is 76.5 percent. The ALC’s graduation rate for 2014 is 21.9 percent. There were 41 total seniors; nine graduated, 16 dropped out, 14 are continuing and information for two is unknown.

Albert Lea has seen an upward trend in graduation since 2011. Superintendent Mike Funk said schools oftentimes see a “roller coaster effect,” where graduation rates dip up and down each year.

The increase from 2013 to 2014, however, was a big jump. In 2011, the graduation rate at ALHS was 80.2 percent. It increased about 2 percentage points in 2012 to 82.5 percent, and about one percentage point in 2013 to 83.7 percent.

But the jump from 2013 to 2014 was exactly 5 percentage points. Funk said he is pleased to see the graduation rate in Albert Lea on a positive trajectory, but is still looking for improvements.

“We still have some work to do,” he said. “But we are definitely making progress in the right direction.”

Funk said he had a few thoughts as to why the graduation rate keeps going up, and one of those reasons is the district being open about the fact it needs to do better.

He also said the school has credit recovery opportunities for students who have failed and believes the students are getting hope from their teachers that graduation is in their future.

Funk said he recognized the staff for their hard work in helping the school move in the right direction.

The ALC is seeing the roller coaster effect Funk mentioned. In 2010 the graduation rate was 26.9 percent, but it jumped 7 percentage points in 2011 to 33.9 percent. The rate fell to 14.3 percent in 2012 and raised 9 percentage points in 2013 to 23.5 percent. The graduation rate fell about 1 1/2 percentage points to 21.9 percent in 2014.

The report includes a vast array of demographic categories, including ethnicity. While there are many ethnicities represented in Albert Lea, if there were less than 10 students in Albert Lea Area Schools of a certain ethnicity, their graduation data cannot be released for privacy reasons, the Minnesota Department of Education said.

However, Hispanic students at ALHS saw a big increase in graduation rates from 2013 to 2014. In 2013, the graduation rate of Hispanic students was 63 percent. That rate jumped over 15 percentage points to 78.3 percent in 2014.

Across the board, students at ALHS saw increases. Special education students had a graduation rate of 41.9 in 2013, but jumped to 57.1 percent in 2014. Free and reduced price lunch students had a graduation rate of 71 percent in 2013 and increased to 78.7 percent in 2014.

At the ALC, Hispanic students saw a slight decrease in graduation rates; 28.6 percent of Hispanic seniors graduated in 2013 and 25 percent graduated in 2014. The rate had a big jump, however, from 2012 to 2013; the graduation rate of ALC Hispanic students in 2012 was 6.7 percent.

Free and reduced price lunch seniors at the ALC had the same graduation rate in 2013 and 2014: 19.4 percent. However, the rate jumped 9 percentage points in 2013 from 2012’s graduation rate of 10 percent.

Graduation rates for special education students at the ALC were too small to record.

Comparing to other schools in the area, Albert Lea High School’s graduation rate of 88.6 percent is higher than most. Alden-Conger High School had a graduation rate of 81.3 percent, Glenville-Emmons Secondary had a graduation rate of 78.6 percent and United South Central High School had a graduation rate of 81 percent.

The only area school to have a higher graduation rate was New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva High School, with a graduation rate of 94 percent.

 

2014 high school graduation rates

Glenville-Emmons: 78.6%

Mankato East: 80.9%

Alden-Conger: 81.3%

Austin: 82%

Faribault: 86.5%

Rochester Mayo: 88.3%

Albert Lea: 88.6%

Rochester John Marshall: 91.7%

Winona: 92.3%

Rochester Century: 93.2%

Northfield: 93.8%

Red Wing: 93.9%

NRHEG: 94%

Owatonna: 94.1%

Mankato West: 94.7%