RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond Public School's high school graduation rate is the lowest in the state with only 75 percent of students graduating within four years of entering high school.

On Monday, the Virginia Department of Education released the statewide "On-Time Graduation" and dropout rates for the 2017-18 school year. Richmond Public Schools rate fell 1.5 percent from the previous year, bringing it to only 75.39 percent with a drop out rate of 19.53 percent.

“This data is not a reflection of our students' abilities. It's a reflection of our failure to provide them with the education they deserve,” Superintendent Jason Kamras said. “My administration is committed to changing this – once and for all – for every young person in RPS."

The drop stands in contrast to the state's slowly rising graduation rate, up half a point to 91.6 percent for the 2017-18 school year.

Despite the overall decline in RPS graduation rates, graduation rates for English Language Learners increased almost 16 percent while dropout rate decreased by 14 percent.

“We are optimistic about the increase in graduation rates that we’re seeing with the ELL student population, but it’s imperative that we see this same growth across the district,” School Board Chair Dawn Page said.