Charles Co. school’s 2022 graduation rate higher than Md. average, data shows

The class of 2022’s graduation rate in Charles County public schools is more than 5% higher than the Maryland state average, according to data from the state’s board of education.

Data released last week showed Charles County school’s 2022 graduation rate came in at 92.6%. That’s more than 5% higher than Maryland graduation rate of 86.3% of students earning a diploma in four years.

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Those graduation rates come despite effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning.

Though it is still above the state average, the school system said its graduation rate decreased a bit from 93.6% in 2021 to 92.6% in 2022.

Data from Maryland’s board of education showed that all seven Charles County high schools had a graduation rate of at least 88%.

Here’s a breakdown of each school:

• Henry E. Lackey High School — 92.62%
• La Plata High School — 92.88%
• Maurice J. McDonough High School — 92.47%
• North Point High School — 97.81%
• St. Charles High School — 92.56%
• Thomas Stone High School — 88.24%
• Westlake High School — 90.31%

Even though students are graduating at a high rate, the schools system’s superintendent Maria Navarro said there’s still work to be done to help prepare graduates for college or the work force.

“Our data indicates some gains and some losses,” Navarro said in a news release. “But our instructional teams, teachers and administrators regularly analyze student progress, make recommendations for growth and provide students with extra resources to catch up or remain on track to graduate with their peers.”

Details on the data

Charles County students in certain groups saw a rise in graduation rates in 2022.

Data showed that for students with disabilities, the graduation rate went up from 79.17% in 2021 to 81.62% in 2022. For students in the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program, the graduation rate went up from 58.33% in 2021 to 62.12% in 2022.

The dropout rate for Charles County Public Schools went down from 4.49% in 2021 to 3.89% in 2022.

However, data showed that Maryland’s dropout average went up from 7.4% in 2021 to 8.5.% in 2022.

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