DeRIDDER, La. - The Louisiana Department of Education (DOE) released the 2017 cohort data for graduation rates, showing Beauregard Parish with the fourth highest graduation rate in the state, according to Timothy J. Cooley, Superintendent of Beauregard Parish schools.
The 2017 graduating class in Beauregard Parish had a 94.7
percent graduation rate. This ranking places Beauregard Parish as one of twenty districts among the 69 reported districts in the state to have a graduation rate above 90 percent.
"This is the twelfth year that the state has issued graduation rate data," said Cooley, "and Beauregard Parish has been among the top ten school districts in the state each of the twelve years. In addition, we have maintained a graduation rate above 90 percent for five consecutive years."
Louisiana uses a Cohort Completion Rate analysis which tracks students entering the ninth grade through graduation. For the current standings, information was compiled over a four year period beginning with the 2013-2014 school year and ending in the spring of 2017.
Students who entered high school as first-time freshmen in the fall of 2013 were tracked through the time of graduation. A graduate is defined as a student who received a high school diploma in four years.
Graduation rates are used in the Department of Education's evaluation of high schools, counting for 25 percent of the School Performance Score. The overall graduation rate for the state was 78.1 percent.
The goal of the Beauregard Parish school system is to provide excellence in education with a mission to graduate students who are prepared to meet the challenges of post-secondary education or careers, Cooley continued.
"Graduation is the ultimate goal of our school system and the result of persistence on the part of students, teachers, parents, and administrators," Cooley concluded. "We will continue to provide every opportunity to help Beauregard Parish students attain their high school diploma and prepare them for a successful future."
