Scott Charter School

Scott Charter School is a small, K-12 alternative public charter school in Scott, Arkansas, serving 207 students and operating under the Academics Plus Public Charter Schools district. The school serves a high-needs population, with 71% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, and offers a very low student-to-teacher ratio of 10:1, which is significantly smaller than nearby schools like Cabot Freshman Academy (16.4:1) and Lisa Academy Arkansas Hybrid School (15.5:1).

Despite this structural advantage and high per-pupil spending of $15,063—well above the $9,209 spent at Lisa Academy—academic proficiency rates are extremely low. For the 2025-2026 school year, only 11.1% of students were proficient in mathematics and 21.8% in English Language Arts, compared to state averages of 44.1% and 42.9%, respectively. The school’s graduation rate is 76.9%, far below the state average of 90.1%, and its dropout rate of 4.0% is notably higher than the 0.6% rate at Lisa Academy. There are a few bright spots, such as 3rd grade English Language Arts proficiency at 47.1% (above the state average of 42.9%) and 10th grade reading at 54.5% (above the state average of 39%), but these successes are not consistent across grades or subjects.

Compared to other alternative schools in the region, Scott Charter School faces significant challenges. Arkansas Military And First Responders Academy (AMFRA) also shows very low proficiency rates, suggesting systemic difficulties for high-poverty alternative schools. However, Lisa Academy Arkansas Hybrid School, which serves a similar demographic with 47.5% free/reduced lunch, performs much better across all subjects while spending far less per student. This comparison indicates that the struggles at Scott Charter School are not inevitable and that more effective models exist. The combination of low graduation rates, high dropout rates, and poor test scores raises serious concerns about whether the school is meeting its mission to prepare students for future success.