MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Friday marked the end of the school year for Shelby County Schools students, and for many it’s a time for celebration.
WREG learned Tennessee ranks 8th in the United States for high school graduations.
The U.S. is making a push for a 90% graduation rate by 2020.
A report from the “Building a Great Nation” website revealed that in 2013, 86.3% of Tennessee high school seniors graduated on time.
Closer to home, that number was a bit lower.
SCS said for the 2013-2014 school year, 72.1% of its seniors got their diplomas.
That number applied to the schools that the district currently serves.
The district could not give graduation numbers for this year’s class, because summer school has not yet begun.
SCS said it usually released that number later in the summer or fall.
WREG spoke with parent Franklin Sorrell as he was picking up his son from his last day of seventh grade at Booker T. Washington.
He said he believed the district was doing a good job of helping students graduate on time.
One SCS grandmother was not shocked to hear the SCS graduation rate was below the state’s.
“I could kind of imagine that’s the case, along with probably the gangs and everything else that’s going on with the kids in the schools and the community,” said Bridgett Craft.
Craft believed bullying could also be an issue impacting student success.
Still, she said she was determined to see her grandchildren graduate on time.