The number of high school students receiving their diplomas within six years has increased across School District 58, but is still shy of the provincial average.

The school district had a six-year completion rate of 74 per cent in 2016-17, coming up considerably short of the provincial average of 84 per cent, new data from B.C.’s education ministry shows.

“We certainly want it to continue to move towards the provincial average,” McNiven told school board trustees at last Wednesday’s board meeting. “We have cohort groups that can spike us either in a positive way or a negative way, but the trend line, if you were to draw a line from 2004, certainly is on a trajectory that has been very positive since that time.”

That 74 per cent in 2016-17 is a stark improvement from 2015-16, which saw just 65 per cent of students across the district complete high school in six years. While short of the provincial average, the 2016-17 rate marks a 14-year high for SD 58 completion rates, edging out the previous record of 73 per cent in 2013-14.

The numbers also show SD 58’s completion rate rising out of a two year lull of 63 per cent and 65 per cent in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Completion rates for aboriginal students and students with special needs also hit 14-year highs in the district last year.

The six-year completion rate for aboriginal students improved to 69 per cent — a dramatic 10 per cent from 2015-16. That number hovered at 58 and 59 per cent the past three years, having dropped from a previous high of 65 per cent in 2012-13.

Teachers lauded for improving completion rate

Six-year completion rates for students with special needs saw a huge spike in 2016-17, rising to 58 per cent in 2016-17 compared to 37 per cent the year before. That number has gone up and down the past few years, falling from 45 per cent in 2012-13 to 38 per cent in 2013-14 and rising back to 45 per cent in 2014-15 before falling again the year after.

Completion rate is the percentage of students in a district who earn their diploma within six years of entering high school in Grade 8.

“There are gaps that need to continue to be addressed,” McNiven told the school board, adding that the top priority is to close the gap with the provincial average.

McNiven noted the completion rate gap between all students and students of aboriginal ancestry has been closing, and that it will also be important to close the gap between all students and those with special needs.

McNiven told the Herald there are number of factors as to why the completion rate has been improving.

“Teachers make the biggest difference. They have a huge impact on the success rate of students, and then I think there’s also things from a team perspective that we’re doing around our strategic plan that helps support that work,” McNiven  said.

He said he anticipates they’ll see similar numbers for 2017-18 next year.

“That’s our hope, and to be able to consistently hit that mark in a positive way,” said McNiven.

The average completion rate has climbed by more than five per cent in the past 10 years in B.C. and the numbers for aboriginal students and students with special needs has also improved province-wide. Students designated as having special needs have also closed the gap in high school completion, up 2.4 per cent to 69.4 per cent in 2016-17 compared to the previous year.

Over the past 10 years, special needs completion rates have improved more than 25 per cent. The completion rate for indigenous students showed a similar improvement, up 2.1 per cent in 2016-17 compared to the previous school year. Indigenous high school completion is up to 65.9 per cent, an increase of 19 per cent in the past 10 years.

MSS and PSS numbers looking good

On a year-to-year basis, the number of Merritt Secondary School (MSS) students that graduate remains high.

Unlike the province’s six-year completion rate, the graduation rate measures the number of eligible graduates enrolled on Sept. 30 who graduate that same year at a particular school.

According to the Fraser Institute, MSS had a grad rate of 92.4 per cent in 2016, up from 90.9 per cent in 2015. The grad rate took a nose dive at 82 per cent in 2014 after having reached 97.3 per cent and 93.2 per cent in 2012 and 2013.

In Princeton the graduation rate has been near-perfect every year.

In 2012 and 2013 the grad rate was nearly 98 per cent and in 2014 and 2015 it was a perfect 100 per cent before falling to 91.4 per cent in 2016.

“Graduation rates are quite high because [they] take into account those who are eligible to graduate that year in Grade 12 and lots of our kids are successful, which is very positive,” McNiven told the Herald.

He said the completion rate lags behind because it takes that Grade 8 cohort group into consideration and tracks how they progress over a six year period.