Pinellas County Schools graduation rate rises to 91.5%

Jan. 10, 2025

Pinellas County Schools is celebrating another high graduation rate for the 2023-24 school year. Pinellas County Schools graduation rate rose to 91.5%, up nearly four percentage points from last year, according to the official report released by the Florida Department of Education. The PCS graduation rate continues growth to over 20 percentage points since 2013. 

PCS outpaced the state graduation rate of 89.7%, and in nearly all subgroups. The PCS graduation rate ranks high among Florida’s largest public school districts and those in the Tampa Bay area.

FLORIDA LARGE DISTRICTS 

TAMPA BAY AREA DISTRICTS

The district continues to focus increased resources on its Bridging the Gap plan, which once again resulted in the district’s highest graduation rate among Black students and the lowest gap in district history. 

• The graduation rate among Black students for 2023-24 rose to 85.1%, up 8.5 percentage points from the previous year and nearly 20 percentage points since the 2015-16 school year. The state graduation rate among Black students was 85.3%.
• When the Bridging the Gap plan was instituted, the graduation gap between Black and non-Black students was 17.9 percentage points. This gap narrowed in 2023-24 to 7.8 percentage points.

There continues to be no gap between the Hispanic and overall graduation rates, with the Hispanic graduation rate also at 91.6%.

“I’m excited for our graduating students, staff and families,” said Pinellas County Schools Superintendent Kevin Hendrick.  “The 2023-24 school year demonstrates the hard work, dedication, innovation and community spirit of everyone associated with Pinellas County Schools. I am confident that our graduates leave Pinellas County Schools ready to succeed and be the best they can be in college, career and life.”

Additional 2023-24 highlights include:

• Pinellas outpaced the state graduation rate by nearly four full percentage points.
• The graduation rate for the subgroups outpaced the state:

• • PCS Hispanic students rose to 91.6%, outpacing the state’s rate of 89%.
  • PCS English learning students rose to 90.7%, outpacing the state’s rate of 80.7%.
  • PCS exceptional student education (ESE) students rose to 87.3%, outpacing the state’s rate of 86.8%
  • PCS economically disadvantaged students rose to 86.7%, outpacing the state’s rate of 86.2%.

• Sixteen (16) traditional high schools earned graduation rates over 90% in 2023-24 with six (6) schools having a rate of above 99%. 

SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES