Hispanic Graduation Rates Drop in Nashville Despite Gains for Other Historically Disadvantaged Student Groups

Graduates of Antioch High School last May (Photo by MNPS)

Last May, Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) recorded its second-highest graduation rate ever, and multiple historically disadvantaged student groups —including economically disadvantaged students, Black students, and students with disabilities — all reached their highest rates ever.

But the same was not true of Hispanic students.

The district’s Hispanic student graduation rate dropped 6.1 percent in the 2024/25 school year to 73.2 percent. That’s 13 percentage points below the state average for Hispanic students (86.2 percent) and 15 percentage points below the graduation rate for MNPS’ Black students (88.6 percent). White students graduated at a 92 percent rate.

Additionally, the graduation rate for MNPS students with limited English proficiency also dropped by 3.4 percentage points in the 2024/2024 school year.

Ava Dakash (Photo by MNPS)

At Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, student board member and Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School junior Ava Dakash expressed concern about the change.

“How are we going to combat the fact that we’re losing graduation rates specifically from the Hispanic population, given that 14 percent of the Metro Nashville population is Hispanic,” said Dakash.

MNPS Executive Officer of Research, Assessment, and Evaluation Dr. Tina Stenson said the district is studying the Hispanic graduation loss.

 “I’m hoping it’s a one-off, but we shall see,” said Stenson.

Tennessee Policy Change Impacts Rate

Stenson and Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle both placed some of the blame for the drop in Hispanic student graduation rates on a new state policy that determines which district uses a transferring student’s graduation outcomes in its data.

Under a policy that just went into effect for the 2024-25 school year, the sending school district uses a transferring student’s data if that student does not attend at least 60 days in their new district. Stenson told board members that MNPS had more of those students last year, and that staff could not determine whether all of them should have counted toward the district's graduation rates.

“Both state and federal policy changes (do) have an impact on things like graduation rates,” said Dr. Battle. “From a historical standpoint, the strategies that the team has had in place actually (are) working, and so we’ve got to continue to double down on those strategies.”

Students with Disabilities Improve Graduation Rate

Board members praised district strategies for the impact on another student group’s graduation rate.

Students with disabilities improved their graduation rate by 5.6 percentage points to 84.5 percent in the 2024/25 school year. That total is 22 percentage points higher than the group’s 2021 graduation rate.

“That’s a really impressive number, particularly with a student group that is historically difficult to move forward,” said Board Member Rachael Anne Elrod.