Summary:
The Blevins School District in Blevins, Arkansas, serves 379 students across two schools—Randy Hughes Elementary School (Pre-K through 6th grade) and Blevins High School (7th through 12th grade)—in a small, rural community facing significant academic challenges, with the district ranking in the 2nd percentile statewide and holding a 0-star rating.
Comparing the two schools, Randy Hughes Elementary School is the relative bright spot, outperforming the high school in nearly every subject area. For example, elementary students achieved 17.1% proficiency in English Language Arts and 15.9% in Mathematics, compared to just 9.3% and 10.5% at the high school. The elementary school also shows a slight upward trend in its state ranking over three years. In contrast, Blevins High School is the most challenged, with a declining rating from 2 stars to 0 stars, a graduation rate of 81.2% (well below the state average of 90.1%), and several grade-level subjects recording 0% proficiency. A notable exception is 9th-grade Biology, where 40% of students were proficient, suggesting a potential strength in that specific course.
Key metrics reveal a paradox: the district spends significantly more per student than the state average ($15,705 at the high school, $13,209 at the elementary school) and maintains an extremely low student-teacher ratio of 4.4:1 at the high school, yet academic outcomes remain critically low. Over 83% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating deep socioeconomic challenges. The data also shows a clear decline as students progress, with elementary scores consistently higher than high school scores, and an anomalous spike in 2024-2025 elementary Math proficiency (28.3%) that warrants further investigation. Overall, the district faces deep-rooted issues that funding alone has not resolved.
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