Middleton-Burney Elementary School

Middleton-Burney Elementary School in Crescent City, FL, serves 1,056 students in grades PK through 6 and is part of the Putnam County School District, which ranks in the bottom 15% of Florida districts.

The most critical challenge at Middleton-Burney is its extremely high chronic absenteeism rate of 52.4% for the 2023-2024 school year. This is dramatically higher than the state average of 31.4% and nearly double the rate at nearby higher-performing schools like Belle Terre Elementary School (27.2%) in Flagler County. Academic proficiency across all subjects and grade levels is consistently below both district and state averages, with rates ranging from 29% in 3rd Grade Math to 59% in 6th Grade ELA, compared to state averages of 60-66%. The school also has a high student-to-teacher ratio of 21.6, the highest among nearby comparison schools, and a large enrollment coupled with a 60.13% free/reduced lunch rate, indicating significant economic disadvantage.

Despite these challenges, there is a glimmer of hope: 6th graders at Middleton-Burney show relative strength, with ELA proficiency (59%) nearly matching the state average (62%). Interestingly, per-pupil spending at the school ($10,253) is in the middle of the pack compared to nearby schools, suggesting that funding alone is not the primary issue. The data reveals a stark contrast within the same district: The Children's Reading Center, also in Putnam County, is a top-performing school (81st percentile) with low absenteeism (26.7%) and a much lower poverty rate (37.82%). This shows that high performance is possible within the same district, and the key differentiators appear to be attendance and socioeconomic factors rather than district administration. Breaking the cycle of high poverty, absenteeism, and low test scores at Middleton-Burney would likely require targeted interventions focused on attendance and family support.