Students in Kootenay-Columbia School District 20 are graduating at about the same success rate as the provincial average.
Annual data released earlier this month shows 87 per cent of SD20 students who began Grade 12 in September 2021 graduated within the same academic year. That is a bit of a dip from the 2019/2020 school year when 91 per cent of students graduated.
The Ministry of Education also tracks what it calls the six-year completion rate, or how many students earn a certificate of graduation or adult diploma within six years of the first time they enrol in Grade 8.
School District 20’s six-year completion rate average is 90.8 per cent, only slightly under the provincial mark of 91.6 per cent.
The district also continues to have success with its Aboriginal Education program.
Eighty-two per cent of eligible Indigenous students graduated in the spring, well above the provincial average of 74.6 per cent.
A further 91.1 per cent of Indigenous students in the district are graduating within six years of Grade 8, compared to the B.C. average of 75.1 per cent.
Although Indigenous student success rates for the district are above average, SD20 superintendent Katherine Shearer says SD20 still has some room to go before those rates are at parity with the all-resident student rate.
The district has outlined several actions in their five-year strategic plan to promote equity for Indigenous students and move towards Truth and Reconciliation.
These include:
• Promoting engagement with SD20 Knowledge Keepers,
• Supporting school triads made up of an Indigenous support worker, Indigenous connection teacher, and principal/vice-principal focused on Truth and Reconciliation and the First Peoples Principles of Learning,
• Participation in the Equity in Action Project to determine and address systemic barriers impacting programming for Indigenous students.
Graduation data for students with diverse needs was also provided, with the district recording 77 per cent of these students completing Grade 12 the same year they entered and a six-year completion rate of 72.9 per cent.
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@tyler_harper | tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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