Rochester Public Schools sees highest graduation rate since 2018, including 10% gain among Black students
May 7—ROCHESTER — In 2024, Rochester Public Schools recorded its highest graduation rate since 2018, which included a 10% increase among Black students.
The Minnesota Department of Education released statewide 2024 graduation rates on Wednesday, May 7. RPS' graduation rate among Black students reached 84.13%, up from 74.04% in 2023.
That gain for Black students in 2024 came after the group experienced a 10% drop the year before , meaning the 2024 rate essentially gained back the ground that had been lost between 2022 and 2023.
"That has been a real focus over the course of this year," Superintendent Kent Pekel said, explaining that the district made a point to work with the high schools to make sure their Black student populations stayed on track to graduate. "There was a pretty explicit focus on making sure those kids were not falling through the cracks."
The overall graduation rate at Rochester Public Schools for the class of 2024 was 85.9%, representing a 2% increase over the year before. The RPS graduation rate was higher than the statewide rate, which was 84.2%.
The RPS graduation rate among white students was 89.7%, a figure that is mostly unchanged from the 2023 class, which was at 90.7%
The graduation rate among Asian students was 89.2%, which was an increase from the 82.39% recorded in 2023.
Students of "two or more races" had a graduation rate of 86.3%, which was down nearly 4 points from the 90.1% recorded in 2023.
Although Hispanic students recorded the lowest graduation rate among racial demographics at 71.0%, that was an increase from the 64.5% recorded in the class of 2023.
When asked about the rate among Hispanic students, Pekel explained a reason for it being lower than for other cohorts is because it's a more mobile demographic.
"The challenge there is having a program that provides them with educational continuity over time," Pekel said. "That's the work that really lies ahead of us in a lot of ways."
Among Rochester's three high schools, Mayo had the highest graduation rate, at 92.6%, followed by Century at 91.7%, and John Marshall at 89.4%. Although Mayo and John Marshall's graduation rates were within a percentage point of the year before, Century recorded a gain of 3.1%.
The largest single-school gain was at the Alternative Learning Center, which recorded an increase of 15.7%, for a 2024 graduation rate of 72.3%.
Pekel went on to highlight the district's initiative of incorporating something known as "multi-tiered systems of support," which is a strategy for providing additional support for struggling students.
"We're identifying the kids who need more support," Pekel said.
Among surrounding districts, Byron's graduation rate was the highest at 95.18%, followed by Plainview-Elgin-Millville at 95.15%, Kasson-Mantorville at 93.59%, Stewartville at 92.62%, Pine Island at 89.36%, Chatfield at 89.33% and Dover-Eyota at 87.5%.
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