IMESD is best in state with high school graduation rates
By Terry Murry on Monday, March 2nd, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The Oregon Department of Education released the four-year high school graduation rates for the class of 2025 at the end of January. The state was proud to record Oregon’s highest high school graduation rate ever – 83 percent. The InterMountain Education Service District played a big part in that record, by setting a record of its own.
“We were first in the state,” Superintendent Mark Mulvihill said.
Mulvihill is convinced that the depth of experience of IMESD’s school superintendents played a big part in the district having a 93 percent rate, 10 percent higher than the state average. He said the average time on the job for school superintendents in Oregon is three years or less. That’s not the case with the schools in Umatilla, Morrow, Union, and Baker counties.
“We’ve been in our jobs for a long time,” Mulvihill said. “We’ve weathered a lot of changes. We’ve kept our focus on what’s important for students – graduation – and we work together.”
Mulvihill said IMESD school districts are constantly tracking the progress of students towards graduation from ninth grade through 12th grade and administrators share knowledge of what works to reach the best possible outcome. He said the focus on freshmen was how they handled the transition from middle school to high school. He said career and technical education (CTE) also helped last year’s graduates.
