Palm Beach County Jail

Palm Beach County Jail is a small public high school serving grades 6-12 in West Palm Beach, Florida, with an enrollment of only 31 students, the majority of whom are African American (61.29%) and Hispanic (29.03%).

Despite the school's relatively low student-teacher ratio, ranging from 2.7 to 10.3 over the past few years, Palm Beach County Jail has struggled to provide a high-quality education to its students. The school has had very low four-year graduation rates, ranging from 0% in 2020-2021 to 52.6% in 2022-2023, which is significantly lower than the nearby schools, such as John I. Leonard High School, Palm Beach Preparatory Charter Academy, and G-Star School Of The Arts, which have graduation rates above 90%. Additionally, the school's academic performance, as measured by standardized test scores, is significantly below the Palm Beach district and state averages, with only 8% of students proficient or better in Algebra 1 in 2022-2023, compared to 50% in the district and 54% statewide.

Despite the poor academic outcomes, Palm Beach County Jail has had very high spending per student, ranging from $24,013 in 2022-2023 to $68,177 in 2019-2020, which is significantly higher than the nearby schools, which spend around $10,000-$12,000 per student. This suggests that the school is struggling to effectively utilize its resources to improve student outcomes. Additionally, the school has had very low chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 0% to 1.8% over the past few years, in contrast to the nearby schools, which have much higher chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 5.1% to 97.1%, indicating that the school may be facing unique challenges in engaging its student population.