The proportion of Butte High School students who graduated increased last year -- but the number dropping out also went up slightly.
The good news: the graduation rate for Butte High is 85 percent for the class of 2014, up from 82 percent the previous year.
The statewide graduation rate increased for the fourth consecutive year to 85.4 percent, a percentage point higher than 2013 and the highest level since the Montana Office of Public Instruction began calculating it in 2000, the department announced Tuesday.
From 2009 to 2014, Montana’s graduation rate has increased to 85.4 percent from 80.7 percent.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau credits the improvement with an initiative called Graduation Matters Montana, which was been funded through $450,000 in grant money as well private donations.
Juneau added that not all the news is good – the statewide dropout rate needs attention, and she is again introducing legislation this session to raise the legal dropout rate to age 18 or upon graduation.
At Butte High, the dropout rate increased to 4 percent from 3.6 percent. However, over a four-year span, the dropout rate has actually decreased from 6.6 percent in 2010-11, statistics show.