Seven Muskogee area counties must improve their graduation rates if the area is to attract business, a workforce development leader said.

Nannette Robertson, executive director of the Eastern Workforce Investment Board, said counties served by the board must have a high school graduation rate of 82 percent to become an Oklahoma Certified Work Ready Community. Under a program by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Oklahoma Work Ready Communities are recognized and rewarded for having a sustainable, reliable pipeline that delivers the right workers with the right skills at the right time to meet the changing needs of employers.

However, according to a list of area high school graduation rates, the seven counties served by the Workforce Investment Board have an average 73.7 graduation rate, nine percentage points shy of the target.

Robertson said she e-mailed the list to members of the board.

“What I found interesting was that large schools tend to have larger dropout rates than smaller schools,” Robertson said.

Yet, she said she questioned the accuracy of the list, which was compiled by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce through the Office of Accountabilty, she said.

For example, the list showed Muskogee with a graduation rate of 62.2 percent. The Oklahoma Education Oversight Board, using only the senior year, showed a 2007 graduation rate of 96.7 for Muskogee High School. The Oklahoma Education Oversight Board also showed a 97.4 graduation rate for Hilldale and a graduation rate of 96.9 for Fort Gibson.

The list set graduation rates by comparing the number of graduates in each school to the schools average daily ninth-grade membership four years earlier. Robertson said such rates would not show students who move to a different school.

“If I start school in Muskogee in the ninth grade, then move to Hilldale, then Muskogee is going to take a hit in its graduation rate and Hilldale is going to benefit,” she said.

Showing the graduation rate this way could explain how Watts High School could have a graduation rate of 105.9, she said. A couple of students must have moved to the school and raised the number of graduates, she said.

The actual graduation rate likely is better than what the list indicates, she said.

“I don’t know if it’s significantly better, but I know it’s a little better,” Robertson said.

Still, she said, an improved graduation rate improves the area’s chances of attracting businesses.

“The value in being a work-ready community is that it shows prospective businesses we have an able work force,” she said.

Robertson said area school officials, particularly those involved in the Muskogee Education Consortium, must work together to improve the graduation rate.