Nearly two-thirds of the 17 public school districts in the Pikes Peak region saw graduation rates improve last May, some markedly and others by a smidgen, according a Gazette analysis of recently released data from the Colorado Department of Education.

Six districts in the Colorado Springs area posted declines of the four-year graduation rate over May of 2022 — Academy D-20, Calhan RJ-1, Colorado Springs D-11, Edison 54-JT, Ellicott D-22 and Lewis-Palmer D-38. 

However, retention and completion of Colorado high school students continues to reflect improvement from stagnant rates of 81.7% to 81.9% during the COVID-19 pandemic, state officials say.

Statewide, the class of 2023’s rate of 83.1% of students graduating from high school in four years was the highest  reached since the four-year graduation measurement began in 2009.

It was a bit up from 82.3% in 2022 and reflects an increase from 2018’s 80.7% and the dismal 77.3% that 2014 and 2015 brought.

Nationally, Colorado still lags the national average for on-time public high school graduation, which was 87% in 2020, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Colorado students continued to miss school last year at a higher rate than pre-pandemic levels, state education officials said, which is causing concern about academic improvement and could have contributed to slow progress.

Gains are “the product of hard work by educators, families and students over the years,” Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Cordova said last week in announcing the release of the statistics.

“Given the challenges that our students and educators have faced over the last four years, I am glad that in Colorado we continue to see an improved graduation rate and a decreasing dropout rate,” Cordova said. “It shows students know the value of staying in school and receiving a quality education.”

Studies continue to show that successfully graduating from high school represents a “significant milestone that opens doors to numerous opportunities for students after high school,” she added.

Area school districts with the highest graduation rates last year were: Cheyenne Mountain D-12, 96.6%; Manitou Springs D-14, 93.85%, Fountain-Fort Carson D-8, 93.0%; and Academy D-20, 92.9%.

The lowest graduation rates locally included: School District 49, 55.7%; Colorado Springs D-11, 70.1%; Woodland Park RE-2, 73%; and Hanover D-28, 73.7%.

The state’s overall dropout rate also improved last year, falling to 2.1%. Still, 9,665 students in grades seven through 12 dropped out — but that was 859 students fewer than the previous year, the education department reported.

Five local school districts recorded the best dropout rates of less than 0.5% last school year: Academy D-20 in northern Colorado Springs, the region’s largest school district; Edison 54-JT in Yoder, the region’s smallest district; Cheyenne Mountain D-12 in the Broadmoor neighborhood; Peyton 23-JT in unincorporated eastern El Paso County; and Lewis-Palmer D-38 in Monument.

Posting the worst dropout rates among all students were School District 49, the area’s second-largest school district, with a dropout rate of 9%, Cripple Creek-Victor RE-1, a small mountain district in Teller County, which had a rate of 7.1%, and Colorado Springs D-11, the region’s oldest school district, which saw a 3.7% dropout rate.

The rates can be skewed by district size and composition, officials say. Numbers for smaller districts such as Cripple Creek-Victor, which enrolled between 16 and 200 students, and for districts such as D-49 and D-11, which sometimes enroll more at-risk students who attend alternative schools, may not present a clear portrayal, according to district leaders.

When alternative schools are not included in the big picture, D-49 had a 0.9% dropout rate, and D-11 had a 2.7% dropout rate — more on par with other area districts.

Harrison D-2 bucks that line of reasoning though, with its alternative schools experiencing a 21.4% dropout rate last year — the highest rate for alternative schools among all 17 regional districts — but overall among all D-2 students, the dropout rate was 1.8%.

Racial disparities in students staying in school and graduating also continue to be apparent.

While 1.2% of white students in Colorado dropped out last year, the rate for Hispanic students was 3.2%, for Blacks, 2.8%, and for American Indians and Alaska natives, 4.2%. Among races, Asian students in Colorado had the lowest dropout rate of 0.7%.

Other categories of students dropping out more than the 2.1% state average were: students in foster care, 5.5% dropout rate; migrant students, 4.6%; students who are homeless, 4.8%; English language learners, 4.1%; and students in Title 1 schools in low-income neighborhoods, 3.9%.