The Virginia Department of Education today released the 2012 “On-Time Graduation Rates” (OTGR) for Virginia’s public schools. Roanoke County Public Schools’ graduation rate held steady compared to the previous year, slightly decreasing 0.1 percent to 91.7 percent.

“The vast majority of our students are graduating on-time,” said Roanoke County Public Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Lorraine Lange. “Our mission is to prepare students to continue their education and/or enter the workforce. Earning a high school diploma is the culmination of that preparation,” Dr. Lange added.

Statewide, 88 percent of the students in the class of 2012 graduated on time with a diploma. Roanoke County Public Schools is one of 62 school divisions (out of a total of 128 divisions) with an on-time graduation rate exceeding the state average.

The 2012 on-time graduation rate expresses the percentage of students who were first-time ninth graders during the 2008-2009 school year and earned a Board of Education-approved diploma within four years. The statewide dropout rate fell to 6.5 percent for the class of 2012, compared with 7.2 percent for the class of 2011. During the last five years, the statewide dropout rate has fallen by more than 25 percent.

“More students graduating on time from Virginia’s schools means we have more young people who are college or career ready,” said Governor Bob McDonnell. “This is good news for all Virginians. While we continue to move in the right direction, our job will not be done until students in every school and every zip code have the opportunity to learn and graduate from high school prepared to succeed at the next level.”

“The statewide improvements we celebrate today are the result of hundreds of individual success stories involving teachers, administrators and other educators who provided struggling and sometimes troubled students with the instruction, support and encouragement they needed to persevere and complete their diploma requirements,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright said.

Submitted by Roanoke County Schools