Although they agreed that Fulton Public Schools' 73.5 percent graduation rate - as calculated according to the state's formula for the Annual Performance Report - is not the most accurate way of portraying the percentage of students who graduate from the district, Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Hull and Fulton High School Principal Jason Whitt said they are working on plans to improve that number.
Hull explained that a 73.5 percent graduation rate does not mean that only 73.5 percent of Fulton seniors graduated in 2011.
"Say a student starts the ninth grade (with their "cohorts')," Whitt explained. "If they don't graduate on time with that class, they do not count toward the graduation rate.
To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.