Summary:
Union County is home to a single elementary school, Lake Butler Elementary School, which serves grades PK through 4 with a substantial enrollment of 951 students, making it the sole elementary option for the entire district.
As the only elementary school in Union, Lake Butler Elementary’s performance is a direct reflection of the district itself. The school stands out for its exceptional math proficiency, significantly outperforming state averages in both 3rd grade (78% vs. 63%) and 4th grade (72% vs. 62%) for the 2024-2025 school year. This strength helped the school achieve a 4-star rating and rank in the 70th percentile (672nd out of 2,258 Florida elementary schools) for the same year. However, English Language Arts (ELA) scores are more modest, only slightly above the state average (61% vs. 57% in 3rd grade; 58% vs. 56% in 4th grade), indicating a clear area for improvement. The school also faces a significant challenge with a chronic absenteeism rate of 30.5%, which is nearly identical to the state average and threatens to undermine its strong academic gains.
Key metrics include a student-teacher ratio of 15.3:1, spending of $10,999 per student, and 52.68% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school’s state ranking has shown volatility, dropping from the 70th percentile in 2024-2025 to a projected 56th percentile for 2025-2026. For parents, the takeaway is clear: Lake Butler Elementary excels in math instruction but needs to bolster ELA performance and address high absenteeism to ensure consistent, long-term success. The school’s ranking fluctuations suggest its performance can vary with each cohort, making it important to monitor year-over-year trends.
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