PANAMA CITY - The release of the federal graduation rates last week brought good news for Bay District Schools, which saw a 10-point increase over last year to put them ahead of the state's average.

The district's graduation rate climbed from 70.6 percent in the 2014-15 school year to a projected 81 percent for 2015-16 year, while the state's rate is 80.7 percent. Superintendent Bill Husfelt attributed the "significant" jump to a number of factors, including more accurate data recording and a renewed emphasis on credit recovery with a bolstered Bay Virtual School program.

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