West Hill’s Graduation Rate Highest in District, Says Newly Revealed Data

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West Hills High School’s graduation rate exceeded the statewide and county rate last year, with 86.6 percent of the class of 2012 earning a diploma, the highest of any school in the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD), according to figures released Tuesday by the state’s superintendent’s office.

Santana's graduation rate for the class of 2012 was nearly on par with the state and county average, at 78.1 percent, and their dropout rate was 7.7 percent. West Hills dropout rate was 5.9 percent.

Statewide, the graduation rate was 78.5 percent, and across San Diego County the rate was almost identical at 78.4 percent. Overall the Grossmont District came up with an average 76.1 percent graduation rate and 12.7 percent dropout rate. All high schools in the county had a dropout rate of 10.4 percent.

Compared to the previous year, the number of dropouts at Santana jumped from 14 to 24, and dropped from 36 to 27 at West Hills. 

Statewide, graduation rates rose while dropout rates declined.

The 78.5 percent of students who started high school in 2008-2009 graduated last year. That was up 1.5 percentage points from the year before.

Among African-American students, 65.7 percent graduated with their class in 2012, up 2.9 points from the year before. Among Hispanic students, 73.2 percent graduated in 2012, up 1.8 points from the year before.

There was a corresponding drop in the state’s dropout rate.

The superintendent’s office reported 13.2 percent of students who began high school in 2008-2009 dropped out. That was down 1.5 percentage points from the year before.

The dropout rate among African-American students dropped 3.1 points to 22.2 percent. Among Hispanic students, the dropout rate fell 2.1 points to 16.2 percent.

Another 8.3 percent of students were labeled as neither dropouts nor graduates.

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson said while the trend is positive, California schools still need to do more. He said he’d like to see the graduation rate top 80 percent in the near future and then reach 90 percent by 2020.

He commended local school officials for improving education despite budget cuts the past few years and the fact that California is 49th in the nation in education funding.

“As I travel up and down the state, I see great things happening in California schools every day,” said Torlakson.

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