High Schools in Washington

The two public high schools in Washington County, Florida—Chipley High School and Vernon High School—serve grades 9 through 12 in a rural district ranked 52nd out of 70 in the state, with a combined enrollment of 889 students.

Chipley High School (563 students) is the larger and higher-performing school, earning a 3-star rating compared to Vernon High School's 1-2 stars. Chipley ranks 485th out of 838 Florida high schools, while Vernon ranks 550th. Despite Vernon spending $2,562 more per student ($13,674 vs. $11,112) and having a lower student-to-teacher ratio (17.1 vs. 20.1), Chipley outperforms Vernon in most academic areas, including Biology 1 (73% vs. 64% proficient) and US History (72% vs. 54% proficient). However, both schools struggle with math: only 19% of Chipley students and 31% of Vernon students are proficient in Algebra 1, far below the state average of 63%. Vernon does match the state average in 9th-grade ELA (60%), and both schools show surprising strength in science and history, with Chipley's Biology and US History scores near the state average of 74%.

Chronic absenteeism is a critical issue, with Chipley at 45.4% and Vernon at 42.4%, both well above the state average of 31.4%. This likely contributes to low test scores. Yet, graduation rates are a bright spot: Chipley graduates 91.2% of students and Vernon 90.4%, close to the state average of 92.2%. This suggests schools may prioritize credit recovery to push students through, creating a gap between graduation and academic readiness. For parents, Chipley High School offers stronger overall academics and a lower poverty rate (29.31% free/reduced lunch vs. Vernon's 52.76%), while Vernon High School provides smaller classes and higher spending but faces greater socioeconomic challenges.