Parkrose School District sees decline in on-time graduation rates

Published 12:00 am Monday, January 31, 2022

By Courtney Vaughn

Parkrose High School 2020 seniors post decision day signs on the school lawn to share plans for their next steps. The Parkrose School District saw a decline in four-year graduation rates during the 2020-21 school year.

While the overall graduation rate in Portland Public Schools continues to climb, Parkrose School District saw a notable slide in on-time graduation rates last year.

At Parkrose School District in east Portland, which had 297 senior students enrolled last year, the four-year graduation rate was 72.7%. That’s a drop from 76% in 2019-20, and big slide from 2018-19, when the district’s graduation rate was 81.%.

Parkrose Superintendent Michael Lopes Serrao said the slide in recent on-time graduation rates is a reflection of how COVID-19 impacted schools and students.

“There are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to why we see a decline in our graduation rates. However, it is evident that the class of 2019 faced very different circumstances than the class of ’21,” Lopes Serrao told Pamplin Media Group. “School looked different, and life has been challenging for all our families. The class of ’21 faced the latter part of their Junior year and most of their Senior year online, and we all worked hard to support our students through an exceptionally challenging time. Many students had to go to work during school time, some took care of family members, and worked very hard to maintain their school work. Meanwhile, schools were asked to provide well beyond educational services.”

Parkrose School District did see substantial improvement among students learning English—a nearly 23 percentage point jump from 2020 to 2021, but saw a nearly 18 percentage point drop in on-time graduation rates among white students.

By comparison, Portland Public Schools saw its 2020-21 graduation rate remained virtually unchanged since the 2019-20 year. Last spring, 84.4% of PPS students graduated on time. Statewide, 80.6% of students graduated on time, a two-percentage-point drop from the 2019-20 school year, which set a record for Oregon. Still, education leaders note it’s the second-highest graduation rate ever recorded in the state.

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