Denver Public Schools board member Andrea Merida posted on her website this week calling out the district and Superintendent Tom Boasberg for lying about graduation numbers.
While the district could have been more specific about what numbers they were comparing to get a 4 percent increase over last year, the numbers are not made up. Here’s how it works:
Recent DPS numbers mainly differ from the numbers from the Colorado Department of Education that Andrea cites because the district counted total graduates, while the CDE now counts only students who graduate within four years of starting high school.
Total Graduates: Each district defines who it calls a graduate, but in DPS and other districts, this includes students who earn a high school diploma, regardless of how long it takes. This includes students who graduate early and those who take longer to graduate. (In Denver Public Schools, the number of students who take longer is increasing as more schools encourage students to stay in high school an extra year to concurrently enroll in college classes.)