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NATCHEZ — Natchez-Adams School District has improved its graduation rate to 91 percent during the 2022-2023 school year.

NASD Interim Superintendent Zandra McDonald-Green shared the district’s graduation rate in her announcements to the Board of Trustees during Tuesday’s school board meeting.

“We’re excited to post the highest graduation rate that we’ve had in a long time,” McDonald-Green said.

Natchez Early College’s graduation rate was 100 percent and Natchez High School’s graduation rate was 90 percent.

These are still higher than the state average, which on Thursday the Mississippi Department of Education announced reached an all-time high of 89.4 percent. The national graduation rate is 86.5 percent.

Rates are based on students who entered ninth grade for the first time during the 2019-2020 school year.

According to MDE, the state’s graduation rate has been on an upward trend since 2013, when it was 74.5 percent. Pandemic disruptions resulted in the state waiving passing requirements for end-of-year assessments in Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History in the 2020-2021 school year. However, by this school year that impact should diminish, MDE states.

In other matters announced during Tuesday’s meeting,” McDonald-Green said the board would have the first of a series of meetings with parents and community, where they would “have a platform to voice their concerns and their experiences regarding the district.”

“While we are in the process of updating our strategic plan, we want to make sure we have as much stakeholder input as possible,” McDonald-Green said.

The first meeting is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at Natchez High School.

“This first meeting will focus on what the district is doing well, areas of concern and our community’s vision for the future of the schools and education system in Natchez-Adams School District. We will meet with employees, parents and community members on the 30th and we’ve also scheduled a session with some of our students because we need to know what our students’ interests are and what they envision for themselves as students here in our district.”