Crenshaw County Schools are the top county school system in the state for graduation rate, officials announced today.

Crenshaw County Schools Superintendent Randy Wilkes said the rates for the Class of 2013 were released on Tuesday, and that the local system had a 96 percent graduation rate, which puts it atop the other 67 county systems in the state.

Additionally, out of 134 city and county systems statewide, only Vestavia Hills (99 percent), Madison City (97 percent), Oneonta City (97 percent), Satsuma City (97 percent) and Mountain Brook City (97 percent) ranked higher than Crenshaw County.

Individually, Brantley School and Luverne School both had nearly perfect scores with 98 percent graduating, and Highland Home had a 92 percent rate.

“Brantley and Luverne rates were exceeded only by the following high schools: Cedar Bluff, Gaston, Vina, Paint Rock Valley, Brewbaker Magnet, Loveless Magnet, Ramsay and Vestavia Hills,” Wilkes said. “There are 359 high schools in the state of Alabama, which places the two schools in the 97^th percentile.”

Wilkes said this is the third consecutive year of improved graduation rates for the county and is the best performance in school system history.

In comparison, Brantley School has improved from 69 percent in 2009-2010; 83 percent in 2010-2011; 93 percent in 2011-2012 to 98 percent for 2012-2013.

Luverne School has seen the following improvements: 74 percent in ’09-10; 92 percent in ’10-11; 95 percent in ’11-12; and 98 percent in ’12-13.

Highland Home School has seen the following improvements: 74 percent in 2009-10; 82 percent 2010-2011; 80 percent 2011-2012; and 92 percent 2012-2013.

The system as a whole has improved from 73 percent in 2009-2010 to 96 percent for 2012-2013.

The statewide average was only 80 percent, up 75 percent from last year.