The 2017 Hermiston High School graduating class listens to a speaker during Saturday's commencement ceremony.

The 2017 graduation rates are in, and Hermiston’s are showing room for improvement.

Hermiston School District’s graduation rate of 65.8 percent — a slight up-tick from the previous year — is more than 10 points below the statewide graduation rate of 76.6 percent, according to figures released by the Oregon Department of Education on Thursday. The figure is derived from the percentage of students who receive a diploma four years after they begin high school.

Stanfield, Echo and Umatilla were all above the state average, with a 10 point jump for Umatilla over its 2015-2016 rates.

Hermiston School District

Hermiston’s rates have been lower than the state average for the last few years, and this year was the lowest rate in Umatilla County. Overall, their rate is the 21st worst in the state.

Hermiston administrators acknowledged that the rates are not where they had hoped.

“I would love to at least hit the state average next year,” said Hermiston High School Principal Tom Spoo. “And that would be a huge jump. The state average has been steadily climbing.”

One factor in the low rates, Spoo said, was the 2016 dissolution of the Innovative Learning Center, Hermiston’s alternative school. Those students were absorbed back into the high school.

“We’re still seeing the ramifications of the ILC dissolving,” Spoo said.

The graduation rate for Hermiston High School this year, including alternative school students, was 72.5 percent. Last year, with those students in a separate category, the high school graduation rate was 87.6 percent.

However, the district-wide graduation rates between the two years were roughly the same — with a 65.82 percent rate for 2016-2017, and 65.68 percent for the previous year. Those rates include students who take classes online.

Interim superintendent Tricia Mooney said many students from surrounding areas come to Hermiston to earn a GED, which counts as a completion but not a graduation.

“We know that counts against our graduation rate, but we feel it’s the right thing to do,” she said.

Mooney and Spoo both said they are trying to focus on improving the graduation rate over the long term.

“It takes several years to see the results of what we are doing,” Spoo said. He pointed to the newly-hired graduation coach, Omar Medina, who works with students, mostly freshmen and sophomores, to help them get back on track.

Spoo said he and assistant principal Scott Depew also meet one-on-one with struggling juniors and seniors, checking in with them regularly to help them get back on track.

“Research shows that once you bring an administrator in, there’s a little more of an impact, a sense of urgency,” he said.

Hermiston’s dropout rate is also nearly two points higher than the state average — 5.6 percent to the state’s 3.8 percent. Spoo said the district hopes to study those numbers further, but said there were some challenges with dropouts.

“The district will make phone calls and try to get those kids to come back in,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of control over that. Those habits have already been created — and that’s a frustration for us.”

Echo School District

Other schools in the area attributed their rates to continued efforts at all levels of schooling.

Echo School District had a four-year graduation rate of 80.95, down from last year’s rate of 84.62. Their dropout rate was 3.45 percent, slightly below the state average.

Echo Superintendent Raymon Smith said with a school district as small as theirs, percentages are easily skewed.

“The difference between 84 and 100 percent may be two kids,” he said.

But Smith said they would continue to work on things that affect grad rates. One thing that has helped, he said, is revising their attendance policy.

“If a student misses more than nine days, for any reason, they have to make it up hour for hour,” Smith said. “That’s helping us keep better track of students.”

Stanfield School District

Stanfield School District made a small gain this year, with a rate of 86.67. Last year they had a graduation rate of 85.29 percent. Stanfield’s dropout rate was above the state average, at 4.52 percent.

In an email, Stanfield Secondary School Counselor Kirsten Wright said the district has a strong college-going culture, and tries to show students how their schooling relates to life after high school.

She added that the district continues to work with students with disabilities — the area that needed the most improvement with graduation rates — and keep an eye on students in lower grades for signs they may be struggling, like absenteeism or failing core classes.

“Staff at SSS are meeting every six weeks to review our list of kids that we have identified for intervention as part of our ‘on-track progress monitoring’ for graduation,” Wright said.

Umatilla School District

Umatilla School District saw a jump of nearly 10 points in the rate of its four-year cohort, with a graduation rate of 81.7 percent. Last year’s rate was 72.2 percent. But the district’s dropout rate was 6.53 percent.

Superintendent Heidi Sipe credited staff members’ commitment to following through with students.

“I think that’s one of the things [Principal] Bob Lorence provides really well at the high school,” Sipe said. “He follows through, and makes sure students are meeting those expectations. When he first started, the kids weren’t very thrilled about the level of expectation and accountability. But kids need boundaries.”

She said Umatilla High School staff have been diligent about checking in with struggling students. They also have benefited from resources from the InterMountain Educational Service District.

“There are a host of services through the ESD at the K-12 level, which are essential to our collective success as a region,” she said.

She cited monthly meetings between all the superintendents in the ESD, where they share ideas and discuss things that are successful for their respective schools. Hermiston is not a member of the ESD.