VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) continue to earn high marks with on-time graduation rates (OTG) and low dropout rates.

VBCPS has an OTG of 96.1% and the dropout rate of 2.1% both of which are higher than the commonwealth’s overall rates of 92.8% for OTG and 4.5% for dropouts.

“I hold tremendous respect and admiration for the hard work these individuals put in daily,” said Superintendent Dr. Donald Robertson Jr. “I also want to extend my gratitude to our families and the entire VBCPS community for their collaboration and support. Every day, our educators work hand in hand with families and others to ensure each student is given the opportunities needed to succeed.”

The OTG rate is based on the percentage of students in a graduation cohort who earned a Board of Education-approved diploma within four years of entering high school. The dropout rate is based on the percentage of students who entered the ninth grade in a given cohort but left permanently at some point during high school.

Data shows the largest improvements in OTG rates from the prior year were for the following student groups:

  • Students experiencing homelessness increased by 9.0 percentage points.
  • English learner students increased by 4.6 percentage points.
  • White students increased by 1.4 percentage points.
  • Asian students increased by 1.2 percentage points.

In addition, the largest decreases for dropout rates from the prior year included:

  • Students experiencing homelessness dropout rate decreased by 6.9 percentage points.
  • English learner students’ dropout rate decreased by 3.7 percentage points.
  • White students’ dropout rate decreased by 1.2 percentage points.
  • Economically disadvantaged students’ dropout rate decreased by 1.0 percentage points.

For more information on graduation and dropout rates in Virginia click here.