Tampa, Fl. (January 13, 2026) – Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) is excited to announce the district’s high school graduation rate for the 2024–2025 academic year is an impressive 90.9%. This is an increase of 2.9 percentage points over the prior year and the highest graduation rate in district history.
Our district achievement gap continues to close, ensuring more students have access to opportunities. We are particularly proud of the significant increases among key student groups:
Black students: 6.6% increase
Hispanic students: 2.8% increase
Students with Disabilities (SWD): 4.8% increase
Students on Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL): 4.3% increase
English Language Learners (ELL): 3.2% increase
District leaders congratulate students and staff at the following high schools for obtaining the highest graduation rates in the district:
Tampa Bay Tech High School 99.1%
Newsome High School 98.6%
Plant High School 98.6%
Hillsborough Virtual School 98.5%
Alonso High School 98.0%
Sickles High School 97.5%
Steinbrenner High School 97.2%
Plant City High School 97.2%
District leaders congratulate the students and staff at the following high schools with the highest increase:
Bowers Whitley Career Center 19.0% increase
South County Career Center 17.4 % increase
King High School 9.1% increase
Blake High School 8.9% increase
Hillsborough Virtual School 8.1% increase
Armwood High School 7.6% increase
Robinson High School 6.8% increase
“We were able to see 910 more students than the previous school year walk the stage to earn their diplomas,” said Superintendent Van Ayres. “This historic achievement reflects years of focused work—aligning resources, expanding academic programs, and strengthening support systems—to ensure students have every opportunity to succeed.”
The district has deployed several strategies to improve the graduation rates, including:
Free testing opportunities and preparations for state assessments like SAT, ACT, CLT, PSAT, and FAST
Junior and Senior Academic Checks
Credit Recovery Programs
Quarterly Graduation Meetings with site-based teams to review student progress
GAP (Graduation Advancement Program) to help get students back on track to graduate
Summer Learning Programs
The district continued its Graduation Task Force, a cross-divisional internal group of leaders who meet monthly, focused on individual student performance, support for students experiencing housing instability or homelessness, and an increase in parent communication to ensure families know and understand the graduation requirements.
To schedule an interview with the superintendent, please contact Debra.Bellanti@hcps.net or 813.538.6015.
For more information about Florida’s 2024-25 graduation rate, visit https://www.fldoe.org/accountability/data-sys/edu-info-accountability-services/pk-12-public-school-data-pubs-reports/students.stml?utm_source
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