Taylor County Elementary School

Taylor County Elementary School in Perry, FL, serves 545 students in grades 3 through 5 and is part of the Taylor district, a high-poverty area where over 67% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

This school faces significant challenges, particularly with chronic absenteeism—over 52% of students were chronically absent in the 2023-2024 school year, far above the state average of 31.4%. This issue, shared with nearby Taylor County Primary School (which has a similar rate), is a major barrier to learning. Academically, the school shows some early promise: 3rd graders outperformed the state in math (68% vs. 66%) but were below in English Language Arts (52% vs. 60%). However, by 5th grade, proficiency drops sharply—math falls to 41% (21 points below the state) and ELA to 36% (25 points below). Science is also a weak spot, with only 33% of 5th graders proficient, compared to the state average of 60%. This decline from 3rd to 5th grade suggests the school struggles to build on early foundations.

Despite spending $13,795 per student—higher than the state average—the school has ranked in the bottom 30% of Florida elementary schools for four years, a drop from its 54th percentile ranking in 2018-2019. The high spending hasn't translated into better outcomes, indicating that the core issue isn't funding but rather a community-wide need to improve attendance and support student growth. For parents, this means the school offers some early strengths but faces systemic hurdles that affect long-term achievement.