West Orange Graduation Rate Fell In 2016: DOE

WEST ORANGE, NJ — How many West Orange high school students managed to earn their diplomas last year?

Last week, the New Jersey Department of Education released the 2016 graduation totals by school district. Here are the West Orange Public School District’s four-year totals, according to the DOE:

• 2016 - 84.88 percent
• 2015 - 85.94 percent
• 2014 - 85.16 percent
• 2013 - 86.42 percent

Additional information and district-by-district graduation rates can be found online here.

Last year, West Orange Superintendent Jeffrey Rutzky offered a reason for why the district's graduation rate was lagging behind the state average.

“We had a very large number of students that moved into the high school at the latter part of their school career,” he said. “Kids that moved in were behind on credits because West Orange has a higher requirement of credits than many districts around us. Kids might have missed things that give credits and may not graduate because they didn’t qualify to do so, and that reflects on our graduation rate.”

In addition, West Orange’s special education program - which allows students to continue learning from the age of 18-21, rather than the regular four-year graduation period - was another reason for the low graduation rates, Rutzky stated.

• See related article: Why Is West Orange High's Graduation Rate Lower Than N.J. Average?

STATEWIDE TOTALS

According to the DOE, the state’s high school graduation rate increased to 90.1 percent in 2016 from 89.7 percent in 2015, the Garden State’s fifth straight year of improvement.

Statewide statistics from 2016 include:

• African-American students graduated at a rate of 82.1 percent in 2016, an increase of 13.1 percentage points from 2011, when it was 69 percent.
• 83.4 percent of Hispanic students graduated in 2016, a 10.4 percentage point increase from 2011, when it was 73 percent.
• 94.2 percent of Caucasian students graduated in 2016, an increase from 90 percent in 2011.
• 96.7 percent of Asian students graduated in 2016, an increase from 93 percent in 2011.
• Economically disadvantaged students graduated at a rate of 82.7 percent in 2016, an increase of 11.7 percentage points from 2011, when it was 71 percent.
• 74.7 percent of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students graduated in 2016, an increase of 6.7 percentage points from 68 percent in 2011.
• Students with disabilities graduated at a rate of 78.8 percent in 2016, an increase from 73 percent in 2011.

Photo: Flickr Commons

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