Summary:
Butler County, Alabama is home to two elementary schools—WO Parmer Elementary School and Greenville Elementary School—which together serve students from pre-kindergarten through 4th grade within the Butler County school district, a system ranked in the 38th percentile statewide.
These two schools split the elementary grades into complementary spans: WO Parmer handles the youngest learners (PK-2) with a much larger enrollment of 528 students, while Greenville serves grades 3-4 with 268 students. Both schools face significant challenges with chronic absenteeism—26.3% at WO Parmer and 25.3% at Greenville—which is more than double the state average of 12%. Poverty levels are high at both schools, with 69.51% of WO Parmer students and 85.07% of Greenville students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. Notably, WO Parmer spends about $1,872 more per student ($9,924 vs. $8,052), likely reflecting the higher costs of early childhood programs, though this gap raises questions about resource distribution given Greenville's higher poverty concentration.
Greenville Elementary shows the most promising academic trajectory. The school has climbed from a 37th percentile state ranking in 2023-2024 to the 51st percentile in 2025-2026, a jump of nearly 100 positions. English proficiency is a clear strength, with 3rd grade scores at 71.9% and 4th grade at 62.1%, both exceeding state averages. However, math and science lag behind—4th grade math proficiency (37.1%) trails the state (42.07%), and science (35.48%) falls a significant 15 points below the state average (50.23%). While WO Parmer lacks detailed test score data, its role as the entry point for the district's youngest students makes it a critical foundation. The district's biggest opportunity for improvement lies in tackling the absenteeism crisis, which likely underpins many academic challenges, while building on the strong English instruction already showing results at Greenville.
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