Governor Ron DeSantis yesterday announced that Florida’s 2018-19 graduation rate increased to 86.9 percent, an increase of 0.8 percentage points over last year and a jump of 27.7 percentage points since 2003-04.
“I applaud Florida’s students, parents and educators for their hard work and dedication that lead to these increased graduation rates,†said Governor DeSantis. “While these results are a positive mark of Florida’s upward progress, we cannot allow ourselves to become complacent. We must continue striving for educational excellence and making Florida the number one state in the nation for education.â€
Escambia County’s graduation rate improved to 84.8%, a 4.1-point jump. The gap between ECSD and the State has been closed to a 2.1% difference.
“Credit for this accomplishment goes to a long list of people beginning with our parents, every teacher the student has encountered, school administrators, subject area specialists, academy teachers, coaches, guidance counselors, graduation coaches, and finally, the students themselves who have worked so hard to fulfill all of the requirements for this major milestone,” said ECSD Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.
However, Escambia County still trails the surrounding counties, but that gap, too, has narrowed.
| 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | |
| State | 77.9% | 80.7% | 82.3% | 86.1% | 86.9% |
| Escambia | 72.7% | 76.1% | 79.5% | 80.7% | 84.8% |
| Okaloosa | 82.4% | 84.4% | 86.2% | 88.1% | 87.9% |
| Santa Rosa | 83.2% | 85.7% | 86.4% | 88.7% | 88.9% |
The graduation rates show Escambia County still has difficulty educating its minority students. Black, Hispanic and Two or more Race students trail the state graduation rates by 2.8-3.8 percentage points.
| Escambia | Graduates | Cohort | Rate | State | Comparison |
| White | 1177 | 1323 | 89.0% | 90.2% | -1.2% |
| Black | 745 | 951 | 78.3% | 81.5% | -3.2% |
| Hispanic | 124 | 151 | 82.1% | 85.9% | -3.8% |
| Asian | 80 | 83 | 96.4% | 95.6% | 0.8% |
| Am. Indian | 15 | 21 | 71.4% | 77.5% | -6.1% |
| Two or More | 140 | 164 | 85.4% | 88.2% | -2.8% |
| Hawaiian | 11 | 11 | 100.0% | 86.7% | 13.3% |
| Total | 2292 | 2704 | 84.8% |