New Milford Schools: Our Graduation Rates Better Than Reported

NEW MILFORD, CT — Four-year graduation rates from New Milford high schools dropped 9 points from 2016 to 2017, and now school officials know why.

The percentage drop correlates to 36 students. Twenty-five of those students did graduate within four years, officials note, but were in the special education program and so allowed to finish school during the summer. As a result, when the window for calculating the graduation rate closed, those students were not factored in properly. In previous years, the federal deadline for reporting graduation was later.

Another six students were incorrectly reported in the special education program for 18-to 21-year-olds at Litchfield Hills. Officials say that when all 31 students' graduations are properly accounted, the district’s graduation rate is actually 89.5 percent -- 2 points less than 2016, and higher than the state average of 87.9 percent.

For more on the story, see the CTPost.