Summary:
In Suwannee, there is one middle school, Suwannee Middle School, serving grades 6 through 8 in Live Oak, FL, with a substantial enrollment of 971 students. The school is part of the Suwannee district, which is ranked 49th out of 70 districts in Florida, earning a 2-star rating. The school itself holds a 2-star rating and ranks 689th out of 1,216 schools statewide, a position that has remained relatively stable over the past three years.
The most critical issue at Suwannee Middle School is its alarmingly high chronic absenteeism rate of 47.2%, which is 1.5 times the state average of 31.4%. This means nearly half of the students are missing so much school that it is considered chronic, a major red flag that likely impacts all academic performance. Academically, the school shows a fascinating split in math performance: it excels in 7th Grade Math (73% proficient vs. 53% state average) and Algebra 1 (73% proficient vs. 63% state average), but struggles significantly in 8th Grade Math, where only 38% of students are proficient compared to the state average of 61%. This suggests the school effectively accelerates high-performing students into advanced math while leaving many standard-track 8th graders behind.
Year-over-year performance is inconsistent, with subjects like 8th Grade Science dropping from 54% to 46% proficiency, and 7th Grade Math jumping 17 points from 56% to 73%. With a student-teacher ratio of 20.7:1 and per-student spending of $8,928, the school's budget is not exceptionally high or low for the state. However, given the high chronic absenteeism and volatile test scores, the current spending does not appear to translate into stable, high-quality outcomes for all students. The data strongly suggests that funds may need to be reallocated toward attendance intervention programs and targeted support for 8th-grade math to address these critical challenges.
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