Superintendent: State Achieves Historically High Graduation Rate

West Virginia high school students have achieved the state’s highest graduation rate on record. 

During the 2015-2016 school year, West Virginia graduated 89.8 percent of its high school seniors.

State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano announced the historic graduation rate at George Washington High School in Charleston Tuesday morning.

The rate is up from 86.5 percent the previous school year. Martirano, who has a goal of 90 percent for the state, said the number is important because it represents real students succeeding.

“What does this mean? It’s that we’re providing hope t our young people, to our state, that indicates every child graduates college and career ready and can make contributions to our state,” Martirano said.

After the 2014-2015 school year, West Virginia ranked 18^th in the nation for graduating students. Martirano added only one state had a 90 percent graduation rate that year.