On January 13, 2026, the Florida Department of Education released official graduation rates for 2024-25. Putnam County School District’s official rate of 96.6% is the highest the district has ever achieved, ranking 5th out of Florida’s 67 county school districts.
The graduation rate data reflects the success of the cohort of students who entered 9th grade in the Fall of 2021 and graduated in the Spring of 2025. A total of 650 of 673 students in the cohort graduated on time with a standard high school diploma. This is the highest number of on-time graduates the district has had since the transition to the federal uniform graduation rate in 2012. Last year’s district graduation rate was 91.2%, when 609 of 668 students graduated on time with a standard diploma.
“Increasing our district’s graduation rate has been a priority since I first ran for office,” stated Superintendent Rick Surrency. “Moving from 66th of 67 in 2015 to 5th in the State is an incredible accomplishment for our district and Putnam County. I’m very proud of our students, staff and community.”
All of the individual schools with at least ten students in their cohort reported by the State achieved record-high graduation rates as well. Both Q.I. Roberts Jr.-Sr. High and Putnam Virtual School had a rate of 100%.
Another achievement from this group of 2025 graduates is that Putnam County outperformed Florida’s averages in every single subgroup category. Most notable of these is the Free/Reduced Lunch subgroup of students. Of the 430 students in this subgroup, 413 graduated on time. This 96% rate ranks first in the State of Florida, in a tie with Wakulla County.
According to Jonathan Hinke, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives, “This data proves that students who regularly attend school and work hard in their courses can meet the high expectations we set for them. Every single year our students outperform our expectations, and I credit our teachers and leaders for doing a phenomenal job helping all students cross the finish line of earning a high school diploma.”
For more information about Florida’s graduation rates, visit https://www.fldoe.org/accountability/data-sys/edu-info-accountability-services/pk-12-public-school-data-pubs-reports/students.stml.
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