NHC Schools: Some minority student groups fall below state graduation rates | Schools

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Low graduation rates for some student groups will be a focus this year in New Hanover County.

Superintendent Tim Markley had a first-ever assessment put together.  In it, it was revealed that the district had its highest graduation rate in its history with around 80-percent.

Still, black students and students with disabilities, overall, seem to be struggling.  Less than half of students with disabilities graduated in 2012, though those numbers had actually improved from the year before.  And graduation rates for black students still falls below the state average, at almost 69-percent.

Read the first-ever district assessment report 

"I wish it would move faster," said Tim Markley, New Hanover County Schools superintendent.  "I wish I could make it happen overnight, but we're going to keep moving in the right direction.  We're going to try to accelerate the pace that we're going at, and I got a lot of faith in the folks in this district." 

Even though leaders say some graduation rates are unacceptable, they also say, in most cases, students are at or above the state average compared to other urban schools.

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