Superintendents withhold 2012 graduation rate acceptance

Two Curry County school superintendents said they are withholding full acceptance of Gov. Susana Martinez's announcement Thursday that the statewide graduation rate for the class of 2012 was 70.3 percent, which would be an increase of 7.3 points from last year's graduation rate.

In a news release, the Governor's office said all student groups increased their graduation rates with the largest increases occurring among minority students.

While applauding the graduation rate improvement, Martinez urged the passage of proposed legislation that implements a statewide dropout warning system in order to identify struggling students early on and engage parents and teachers in getting these students the help they need.

Terry Myers, superintendent of Clovis Schools, said he wants to be sure that the governor's numbers represent an "apples to apples" comparison. "Things change from year to year," he said.

For now, however, he said, "I'm focusing on Clovis."

Clovis High School turned in an 81.4 percent graduation rate for 2012, a 2.4 percent increase over 2011's rate of 79 percent.

"I'm pleased but not satisfied," he said. "I won't be satisfied until we see a 100 percent rate."

Miles Mitchell, the superintendent of the Texico district, said, "it's hard to say where they are deriving those numbers" for the state graduation rate.

"There are a number of variables involved," he said. "Some of them hurt you more than help you."

Texico's high school reported a 96 percent graduation rate for 2012, which was the same for 2011.

In compiling last year's graduation rates, New Mexico used federal guidelines designed to standardize graduation rate reporting nationwide. The change in the rules reduced New Mexico's reported graduation rate from 67.3 percent to 63 percent, which was one of the lowest in the nation, according to the Albuquerque Journal.