Smart Pope Livingston Elementary

Smart Pope Livingston Elementary is a small, early-elementary school in Jacksonville, FL (serving Pre-K through 3rd grade) within the Duval district, where over 85% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The most critical issue facing this school is a crisis-level chronic absenteeism rate of 76% in the 2023-2024 school year—more than double the state average and the highest among nearby schools like Susie E. Tolbert Elementary (76%) and Northwestern Legends Elementary (73%). This means nearly 8 out of 10 students are missing enough school to severely hinder learning, creating a vicious cycle where low attendance leads to extremely low test scores, which further disengages families.

Academically, the school ranks in the bottom 3% of Florida elementary schools, with only 19% of 3rd graders proficient in English Language Arts (ELA) in the 2025-2026 school year—far below the district (51%) and state (60%) averages. While math proficiency is slightly higher at 29%, this gap highlights a particular weakness in early reading skills. Notably, the school spends $13,276 per student, which is higher than nearby high-performing schools like West Riverside Elementary ($10,566) and Central Riverside Elementary ($11,787), yet results remain abysmal. This suggests the challenge isn't funding but overcoming overwhelming socio-economic and attendance barriers.

A stark contrast exists just 1.4 miles away at Central Riverside Elementary, which serves a similar demographic but achieves a 55th percentile ranking (3 stars) with a chronic absenteeism rate of just 33.9%. This proximity proves that high performance is possible in the same district and neighborhood. Since Smart Pope Livingston only goes up to 3rd grade, students must transition to schools like Susie E. Tolbert (1st percentile, 76% absenteeism) or R. V. Daniels Elementary (71.9% poverty but 32.3% absenteeism and better scores), showing that a change in environment can make a difference. The most impactful intervention would be a community-wide effort to dramatically improve attendance by removing barriers like transportation and health issues.