Polk County Public Schools
Polk’s graduation rate increase of 3 percentage points announced today by the Florida Department of Education is the second consecutive year that it increased.
Polk’s graduation rate for 2007-2008 is 73.6 percent, up from 70.6 in 2006-2007. Polk’s graduation rate was 68.8 percent in 2005-2006. Polk also decreased its drop-out rate for the third consecutive year. Polk’s drop-out rate in 2007-2008 is 3.8 compared to 4.2 in 2006-2007 and 4.4 percent in 2005-2006. The drop-out rate was 4.8 percent in 2004-2005.
The 2007-2008 state graduation rate announced by the Florida Department of Education is 75.4 percent. The state drop-out rate is 2.6 percent.
Polk’s increased graduation rate was fueled by improvement in the graduation rate from 14 of Polk’s traditional high schools. Ridge Community and Mulberry high schools showed the greatest improvement increasing 12.7 and 12.6 percentage points respectively. Auburndale and Bartow improved 9.9 and 8.9 percentage points respectively. Daniel Jenkins Academy maintained its 100 percent graduation rate.
The following compares the 2007-2008 graduation rates to the 2006-2007 graduation rates for traditional high schools. 2007-2008 drop-out rates for individual high schools were not released on Wednesday.
| High School | 07-08 Grad Rate | 06-07 Grad Rate | Percentage +/- |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auburndale | 81.8 | 71.9 | +9.9 |
| Bartow | 85.5 | 76.6 | +8.9 |
| Daniel Jenkins | 100.0 | 100.0 | ----- |
| Fort Meade | 78.1 | 77.3 | +0.8 |
| Frostproof | 86.8 | 89.4 | -2.6 |
| George Jenkins | 87.7 | 85.0 | +2.7 |
| Haines City | 66.0 | 61.0 | +5.0 |
| Kathleen | 71.7 | 69.3 | +2.4 |
| Lake Gibson | 83.9 | 76.8 | +7.1 |
| Lake Region | 77.5 | 79.6 | -2.1 |
| Lake Wales | 76.0 | 74.5 | +1.5 |
| Lakeland | 88.7 | 85.1 | +3.6 |
| McKeel | 100.0 | 98.4 | +1.6 |
| Mulberry | 85.8 | 73.2 | +12.6 |
| PCC-Lakeland | 97.6 | 97.0 | +0.6 |
| PCC-Chain of Lakes | 98.9 | No grad rate given | |
| Ridge Community | 76.4 | 63.7 | +12.7 |
| Winter Haven | 82.9 | 79.3 | +3.6 |
