Stephens County Graduation Rate at All Time High

The graduation rates released Wednesday by the Georgia Department of Education show that the Stephens County School System had a graduation rate of 90.8 percent in 2013.  This rate is an increase of nearly 3.50 percentage points from the 2012 graduation rate of 87.33 percent.  Stephens County School Superintendent Sherrie Whiten said that is is very exciting news to not only increase the graduation rate yet again this year but also to cross the 90 percent mark for the first time ever as a school system.  "It has increased and it continues to increase," said Whiten.  "We have come a long way.  Years ago, it was 61 percent back around 2003.  We are extremely proud of the hard work our teachers and students do to make sure everyone stays on track."  Whiten said that the Kids Count Data Center ranks the Stephens County School System 14th in the state for graduating students on time.  Georgia DOE numbers also show that Stephens County is well above the state graduation rate of 71.5 percent in 2013.