SWEETWATER COUNTY — The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) announced the high school graduation rates for the 2020-21 school year in which both Sweetwater County School Districts (SCSD) No. 1 and 2 slipped slightly, while the state rate increased overall.

According to the WDE, the state’s high school graduation rates increased to 82.4 percent in 2020-21, marking the eighth-consecutive year of improvement from the class of 2013, where 77.6 percent of students graduated.

Seventeen Wyoming school districts posted graduation rates above 90 percent. Last year, SCSD No. 2 hit the 90 percent graduation rate, however, this year the district slipped to 89.5 percent. According to the WDE’s report, the cohort graduates totaled 187 students out of the expected cohort graduates, which was 209 students.

Green River High School (GRHS) posted a graduation rate of 92.3 percent with 167 students graduating on a four-year track. Expedition Academy (EA) had a 71.4 percent graduation rate with 20 graduates.

GRHS improved its graduation rate from 2019-20, in which they posted a graduation rate of 91.5 percent. EA had a 75 percent graduation rate in 2019-20.

The WDE reports that SCSD No. 1 posted a graduation rate of 75.5 percent in the 2020-21 school year. This is a slight decrease from 2019-20 when they had a graduation rate of 76.7 percent.

Farson-Eden High School graduated all of its expected students in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, with 13 and 20 students, respectively. Black Butte High School (BBHS) increased its graduation rate this past year with a rate of 88.2 percent, graduating 30 of the expected 34 graduates. In 2019-20, BBHS had a graduation rate of 65.4 percent.

Rock Springs High School’s (RSHS) graduation rate slipped from 76.7 percent in 2019-20 to 73.1 percent in 2020-21. Of the expected 360 graduates, RSHS gave diplomas to 263 students on a four-year track in 2020-21.

All of these figures represent the students who were on the four-year graduation track, also known as “on time”. Since the 2009-10 school year, the WDE has calculated graduation rates using the Federal Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Methodology established by the U.S. Department of Education, complying with federal law that requires all states to calculate graduation rates the same way. Students are counted in the four-year, “on-time,” high school graduation rate if they earn a diploma by September 15 following their cohort’s fourth year. Five- and six-year graduation rates are also calculated, and can be viewed with the rest of the graduation rate data.

To explore the graduation rates further, click here.