De Beque Pk-12 School District 49JT

De Beque Pk-12 School District 49JT is a small, rural public school in De Beque, Colorado, that serves 179 students from Pre-K through 12th grade in a single-district configuration, with no other schools located within 20 miles. Operating as both a school and district, De Beque Joint District No. 49 serves a predominantly low-income population, with 63.7% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-2025, up from 45.3% two years earlier.

On the CMAS assessments, De Beque Pk-12 School District 49JT scores well below Colorado state averages in both English Language Arts and math. In 2025-2026, only 9.8% of students met state benchmarks in ELA and 9.6% in math, compared with 44.7% and 37.3% statewide. These numbers reflect a sharp downward trend: proficiency has fallen from 25.7% in ELA and 23.0% in math since 2023-2024. With no nearby schools for comparison, the state average is the most useful benchmark, and by that measure the school is struggling significantly. One positive note: 9th graders scored 61% on the PSAT9 Reading and Writing section, within striking distance of the 66% state average, suggesting some students gain ground by high school.

Graduation and attendance data paint a more complex picture. The school posted a perfect 100% graduation rate in 2021-2022 and 88.9% in 2019-2020, with zero dropouts in multiple years—a meaningful achievement given the high-poverty context. However, chronic absenteeism affects 34.4% of students, and the school's small size (roughly 10-20 students per grade) means year-to-year swings in graduation rates and test scores can be misleading. The 34.4% chronic absenteeism rate is down from 42.0% the prior year but still above the state average of 28.4%. Overall, De Beque appears focused on getting students to graduation, but the declining academic trajectory and attendance challenges deserve careful attention from parents.