CMS Graduation Rates Fall

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A new state report shows graduation rates are on the decline in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. Student test scores remained relatively flat. Some schools, however, have seen double-digit graduation dips from a year ago.

“Keeping him pushed to do what he needs to do here,” said Nelson Goss, a West Charlotte High School parent.

Graduation has always been the expectation for Nelson Goss’s son. He says he plans to watch his musically talented senior walk across the stage this spring with a West Charlotte High School diploma in hand.

“You want to make sure that they get a good foundation here so that they can move forward in life and take it to the next level,” said Goss.

But that may not be the reality for some students in the district. According to state numbers released today, graduation rates are slipping across the district.

The graduation rate fell to 85% last spring from 89% a year ago.

At West Charlotte High, there was a drop of 15% to 73% graduation rate this past spring from 88% in 2017.

And Harding University High plummeted with a 58% graduation rate last spring, down from 77% a year earlier.

“It’s not just that the kids aren’t getting the resources in these schools it’s the parents that don’t have access to these resources,” said Erlene Lyde, the President of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Association of Educators.

She says the problem is one facing whole communities and that students in low-income areas are saddled with troubles outside of school.

“They’re having to work jobs. They’re having to help their families. They’re traumatized by what’s going on in their neighborhoods,” explained Lyde.

She says increased funding for specific school and community needs could lead to the graduation rates bouncing back.

“These schools have shown some gains a lot of them are meeting growth and so forth and so on, but this is a long-term long time commitment to doing what’s best for kids,” said Lyde.

CMS says the rate drop can also be partly attributed to the new way the state records graduation rates. For the first time struggling students that are moved to a different school will be counted towards that school’s graduation rate.

To read more about the graduation rates and test scores, CLICK HERE.