The Florida Department of Education released on Friday the graduates rates for Florida public schools, according to federal standards. Escambia County has the lowest graduations rates in the area, especially among its African-American students. The state’s graduation rate for white students is 79.38 percent, Escambia is 12 percentage points below that – 67.47 percent. The African-American students have a 63.67 percent graduation rate statewide, but only 50.24 percent in Escambia County. Okaloosa County has the best graduation rates of the three counties.
| District Name | White Graduates | White Cohort | White Graduation Rate | Black or African American Graduates | Black or African American Cohort | Black or African American Graduation Rate |
| ESCAMBIA | 1,122 | 1,663 | 67.47 | 523 | 1,041 | 50.24 |
| SANTA ROSA | 1,303 | 1,683 | 77.42 | 61 | 90 | 67.78 |
| OKALOOSA | 1,343 | 1,579 | 85.05 | 163 | 224 | 72.77 |
| FLORIDA | 72,350 | 91,139 | 79.38 | 27,656 | 43,439 | 63.67 |
As bad as these graduation rates are for Escambia County, there are up from last year. Last year (2010-2011), the white graduation rate was 64.68 percent, black graduation rate 45.29 percent. However, the margin between the county’s graduation rates and the statewide rates is about the same. Escambia County isn’t closing the gap.
Here is how it breaks down by high school – Pine Forest appears to have the biggest graduation issues of the regular high schools. West Florida High exceeds state percentages.
| School Name | White Graduates | White Cohort | White Graduation Rate | Black or African American Graduates | Black or African American Cohort | Black or African American Graduation Rate |
| ESCAMBIA HIGH SCHOOL | 169 | 266 | 63.53 | 78 | 149 | 52.35 |
| PENSACOLA HIGH SCHOOL | 98 | 133 | 73.68 | 119 | 225 | 52.89 |
| J. M. TATE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL | 303 | 413 | 73.37 | 29 | 39 | 74.36 |
| PINE FOREST HIGH SCHOOL | 112 | 206 | 54.37 | 92 | 183 | 50.27 |
| WASHINGTON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL | 162 | 217 | 74.65 | 104 | 163 | 63.80 |
| NORTHVIEW HIGH SCHOOL | 74 | 105 | 70.48 | 8 | 19 | 42.11 |
| WEST FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL/TECH | 178 | 199 | 89.45 | 86 | 89 | 96.63 |
| E SEAL CENTER | # | # | # | 0 | 13 | 0.00 |
| CAMELOT ACADEMY OF ESCAMBIA CO | # | # | # | 0 | 23 | 0.00 |
| JUDY ANDREWS | 6 | 20 | 30.00 | 0 | 11 | 0.00 |
| ESCAMBIA WESTGATE CENTER | 0 | 10 | 0.00 | # | # | # |
| LAKEVIEW DROPOUT PREVENTION | 1 | 18 | 5.56 | # | # | # |
| ESCAMBIA SCH. DIST. JAIL PROG. | # | # | # | 0 | 15 | 0.00 |
| ESCAMBIA CHARTER SCHOOL | # | # | # | 5 | 67 | 7.46 |
| RUBY J. GAINER CHARTER SCHOOL | 0 | 0 | NA | 0 | 16 | 0.00 |
| ESCAMBIA VIRTUAL ACADEMY FRANC | 13 | 27 | 48.15 | # | # | # |