April 11th, 2019
by Cecil County Public Schools
ELKTON, MD (April 11, 2019) – The data for the Class of 2018 presented to the Cecil County Board of
Education on Monday evening showed that CCPS achieved an all-time high graduation rate of 91.25%,
breaking the 91% mark for the first time ever. The CCPS rate exceeds the state average of 87.67% by
almost four points. In addition, CCPS reached an all-time low dropout rate of 6.59%, a drop of eight
percentage points since 2010. The CCPS rate is lower than the state dropout rate of 8.38%.
In addition to the overall rates, CCPS saw additional positive trends in subgroup data. Students receiving
free and reduced meals (FARMS) saw an increase in graduation rate from 80.92% in 2017 to 81.73% in
2018. Special education rates have also increased by almost twenty percentage points since 2012.
“The staff members in our high schools continue to make tremendous gains to prepare students to be
successful,” stated Dr. Jeffrey Lawson, Superintendent of Schools. “The data is a reflection of their focus
on each individual student. Statistics consistently show the correlation between the success of an
individual and whether or not he or she graduated high school, and the same correlation is true for a
graduation rate’s impact on a community as a whole.”
