State Recognizes Clay For High Graduation Rate

The Tennessee Department of Education recognized Clay County Schools as one of the few school systems in the state to have over a 99 percent graduation rate last school year.

The state’s average graduation rate increased from 90.6 percent to 92.1 percent over the past year. Clay County Board of Education Chairman Benji Bailey said being a small school has helped them obtain a high graduation rate.

“In some ways, it makes it easier in a smaller system that we can focus on the individual needs of our students,” Bailey said. “But still when an individual succeeds the whole group succeeds so we are grateful for that.”

Bailey said the school system can take pride in having a high graduation rate. Bailey said the high graduation rate does not surprise him as the school system has had graduation rates for several years.

“We traditionally have very high graduation rates,” Bailey said. “Again it’s something we spend some time on and something that we focus on. It’s something that is a metric that our teachers often choose to be evaluated on as part of their annual evaluations and it’s something that we take serious. We just want to make sure that it is in the best interest of our students.”

Bailey said he credits the students for working hard. He also said the graduation rate is a true testament to the school system.

“It speaks volumes to our faculty and our administration who are spending a lot of time and effort to make it possible for our children in Clay County to succeed,” Bailey said.

Bailey said the school system’s goal is to maintain a high graduation rate moving forward.