You may have heard the current graduation rate in Georgia is only 67 percent.

That is the lowest of all southern states.

Hall County’s school superintendent, Will Schofield, weighted in saying, “We have an antiquated liberal art traditional system that’s in place. Requiring more of the same is not the answer of getting our children where they need to be for the next generation.”

Schofield said he is not defending the state’s graduation rate, but said the approach of layering on traditional academic course work for all students in not the answer.

He went on to say, “What’s unfortunate is that what we need to look at is not so much the graduation rate, but whether or not children are college, work and citizenship ready.”

John Barge, Georgia’s State school superintendent, expected a drop in the rate.

He said the federal government is crunching the numbers a different way this time, And compared the calculation to a mercury thermometer.

Barge said, “It’s going to tell you the temperature in this room in Fahrenheit. The other side is going to tell you the temperature in Celsius. The Celsius number is going to be a smaller number, but it’s still the same temperature. It’s just calculated differently.”

He said the state is steadily improving graduation rates, but knows there’s more work to do.

Schofield said in Hall County school officials will continue to work hard toward school success, including graduation. But he said they will also continue to look at alternatives to readiness for work, college and citizenship.

Schofield said, “The Hall County School District will continue to seek opportunities to move in this direction while we lobby our policy makers to consider and act upon transformational changes in our delivery system.”