Graduation rate rises again for Bibb schools

The Bibb County School District’s graduation rate is now 88.97% — an 1.93% increase from last year and the district’s highest completion rate in a decade.

The Georgia Department of Education released state graduation rates Monday, with the state average reaching 87.2%, up from last year’s 85.4%.

“We look forward to continue graduating students and sending them on to successful experiences,” Superintendent Dan Sims said. “The experiences we provide our students are second to none.”

The graduation rate measures how many students finish high school within four years of starting ninth grade. The state tracks each group of students from the time they enter high school, adding those who transfer in and removing those who transfer out or move away.

The rate reflects the percentage of that adjusted group who earn a regular diploma within four years.

The district’s graduation rate was 52.3% in 2012, which is when the state switched to the adjusted cohort calculation.

Central High School led the way among Bibb County schools with a graduation rate of 96.51%. Southwest High and Northeast High saw the greatest jumps in their graduation rates, with 8% increases since 2024. 

Board of Education President Myrtice Johnson said she was “very delighted” with the district’s improving graduation rate.

“The schools are being more focused and intentional about what they are doing, more intentional about getting those students what they need to succeed,” she said.

Sims said the district offers students numerous options for earning credits — including online learning options, dual-enrollment opportunities and summer courses — to meet the “diverse needs” of students.

Johnson said the graduation rate is also a product of the district’s push for steady attendance rates. In August, daily attendance counts showed 17.5% of students were chronically absent, meaning they missed three or more days that month.

Last year, 28.5% of Bibb County’s public school students were deemed chronically absent, according to the state education department’s attendance dashboard.

“As attendance goes up, the more we see students succeed,” Johnson said. 

Johnson said she hopes for additional attendance clerks to be put in every school to expand on the work by a truancy specialist hired earlier this year.

Sims said the increase in this year’s graduation rate could also be attributed to stronger record-keeping, which ensured students that transferred out of the district were not counted in reports submitted to state officials.