Finding Text
Finding: The District did not always maintain required documentation to support the adjustments to the high school graduation rate cohort. Criteria: Title 20, Section 7801(25), United States Code, requires that the District maintain appropriate documentation to support the removal of a student?s count from the 4-year cohort (defined as a group of students on the same schedule to graduate) used to calculate the high school graduation rate. To remove a student?s count from the cohort, the District must confirm, in writing, that the student transferred from the District, emigrated to another country, transferred to a prison or juvenile facility, or is deceased. Additionally, a student who is retained in the same grade, enrolls in a General Educational Development (GED) Program, or leaves school for any other reason may not be counted as having transferred from the District for the purpose of calculating the graduation rate and must remain in the cohort. To confirm that a student transferred out, official documentation must be obtained that the student enrolled in another school or in an educational program that culminates in the award of a regular high school diploma. Condition: To determine whether the District maintained appropriate documentation to support the removal of 55 students from the 2021-22 fiscal year graduation rate cohort, we requested District records to support 20 selected students who were removed from the cohort. Our review disclosed that District records did not comply with the Federal documentation requirements for the removal of 5 students from the cohort. Specifically: . For 2 students, the District could not provide any documentation to support removal from the cohort. . For 1 student, the District provided parent-signed copies of school withdrawal forms that typically indicated the student?s intentions at the time of withdrawal; however, although we requested, documentation was not provided to evidence that the student eventually enrolled in another school or program. . For 2 students, the District provided parent-signed copies of school withdrawal forms that indicated intentions to transfer to other educational programs, such as GED or technical programs, which did not appear to culminate in the award of a regular high school diploma. Cause: District personnel indicated that school personnel misunderstood some of the requirements to remove students from the cohort and did not adequately document student withdrawals. In addition, monitoring procedures were not performed to ensure that appropriate records were maintained and that all students removed from the graduation rate cohort were removed for reasons allowed by Federal regulations. Effect: Without appropriate documentation supporting adjustments to the 4-year cohort and related graduation rate calculation, the District cannot demonstrate that the calculation was accurate, limiting the usefulness of the graduation rate as an academic indicator. Recommendation: The District should enhance procedures to ensure that documentation supporting adjustments to the 4-year cohort and related graduation rate calculation is obtained before adjustments are made. Such enhancements should include appropriate training and monitoring to ensure that the required documentation is maintained and supports that all students removed from the graduation rate cohort were removed for the reasons allowed by Federal regulations. District Response: The district has met with the staff responsible for handling withdrawals of students and transfer of their records to different institutions. Formal training is being developed for principals, registrars, and data entry staff about the process for withdrawing a student from school and from a cohort; using the correct withdrawal codes; maintaining proper records; following up with transfer agencies to get the appropriate documentation, and how to ensure that any new staff is provided training related to withdrawals and student records. The district will monitor regularly to ensure established protocols are met and being done correctly.