Novato High Grad Rate Jumps Because of Accounting Miscue

Rey Mayoral was scratching his head when he saw 's graduation rate at only 88 percent for 2011-12 when it was reported by the California Department of Education.

As the principal in Hornet Town, he KNEW it was higher than that.

"In all the other years, we were well into the 90s, in line with most of Marin, so it really took me by surprise," Mayoral said. "I was thinking, 'I want to know who those 21 kids are.'"

His hunch was right. It was a miscalculation, and the correct figure is 94.7 percent graduation. The officially released the new figure Monday and said the 6.7 percent discrepancy included the misreporting of several students who left for other schools or transferred to adult education programs to complete course work toward their diplomas. It also included students who completed their high school requirements and needed additional attempts after their senior year to pass the California High School Exit Exam, which is allowable by the state.

"We found that only five were unaccounted for, and three of those were special cases such as kids who hadn't completed a portion of the exit exam," Mayoral said. "We can call those kids back and try to get them to pass, which would shoot up the percentage even more."

The California Department of Education said districts have up to a year to submit corrected data after they are posted online. Novato Unified said the high school offices would monitor the statistics more closely to ensure accurate reporting.

"We had some internal accounting issues that weren't followed from Point A to Point B, but we're working that out," Mayoral said. "The bottom line is that we're in line with everyone else in Marin, and we're happy about that."