News File Photo In this photo from June 2020, then-Alpena High School principal Tom Berriman addresses the graduating class of 2020 at Park Family Field at Wildcat Stadium.

ALPENA — The coronavirus pandemic continued to drag on Northeast Michigan graduation rates last spring, recently released data from the Michigan Department of Education shows.

Across Alpena, Rogers City, Hillman, Alcona, Atlanta, Posen, and Onaway school districts, 83% of students graduated within four years in spring 2021, according to a News analysis of the state data.

That’s down from 86.5% in spring 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit, and down from a little less than 86% in spring 2020, the first time students turned their tassels after the pandemic forced schools to teach kids online.

Dropout rates slightly improved from 2020, from just over 7% in the first year of the pandemic to just under 7% in spring 2021, compared to about 6% in the pre-pandemic 2018-19 school year.

Northeast Michigan students fared better than other Michigan kids.

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The statewide graduation rate was about 80.5% in spring 2021, compared to 82% in spring 2020 and 81% in spring 2019, according to the state Education Department. The statewide dropout rate was nearly 8% in 2021 and 2020 and more than 8% in spring 2019.

Across Northeast Michigan, three high schools — Onaway, Posen, and Hillman — saw improvements in their graduation rates last spring over the year before. Only one school — Posen High School — had a better graduation rate in 2021 than in 2019. All Posen high schoolers graduated on time in 2021.

Alpena, Onaway, Posen, and Hillman high schools posted improved dropout rates in 2021 over 2020, while Alpena and Posen showed improved dropout rates in 2021 over 2019.

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Most area schools have small enough graduating classes that one or two students performing better or worse can wildly change the graduation and dropout rates at individual schools.

The 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years were repeatedly interrupted by either government mandates or school outbreaks that forced school officials to send kids home to learn online or through correspondence courses.

This school year has seen far less disruption in Northeast Michigan, though most students in the area were required to wear facemasks at school until school officials recently lifted those mandates.