Email (excerpted), Vanessa Barry, director of marketing and communications, IDEA Public Schools, Jan. 31, 2014

6:28 p.m.

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Here is a statement from Tom Torkelson, Founder and CEO of IDEA Public Schools, regarding your question:

“We have confidence that the 99.7% matriculation statistic is accurate and is a fact that stands alone without the need for an asterisk. IDEA has been very open and clear that this number pertains to graduating seniors. Like other schools, both public charter and traditional who serve K-12 populations, IDEA does lose some students each year to a variety of factors (e.g. relocation, programs like traditional football that we cannot offer). However, this does not diminish the exceptional work of our students, nor does it diminish the accuracy of our unprecedented matriculation rates. It is important to note that we are one of the few schools in Texas that even tracks these statistics; even fewer are held to a comparable standard.”

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Vanessa Barry

Director of Marketing and Communications

512.657.5461