Summary:
Zip code 34210 is home to two schools within the Manatee district: Bayshore High School (serving grades 8-12 with 1,400 students) and Electa Lee Magnet Middle School (serving grades 6-8 with 679 students). Both schools serve a community with high economic need, as over 60% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and they face significant academic challenges, particularly with chronic absenteeism.
The most critical issue is absenteeism: Bayshore High School has a staggering 50.4% chronic absenteeism rate, far exceeding the district (29.4%) and state (31.4%) averages, while Electa Lee Magnet Middle School is also high at 39.6%. This directly correlates with low academic proficiency—Bayshore’s Algebra 1 proficiency is just 29% and 10th-grade ELA is 34%, roughly half the state averages. However, Electa Lee presents a striking paradox: while its standard math and ELA scores are low (22-27% in math), its advanced magnet program excels, with 78% proficient in Algebra 1 and 100% in Geometry, far outperforming district and state averages. This suggests the magnet program is highly effective for accelerated students, even as the general student body struggles.
Despite spending slightly above the state average per student ($11,872 at Bayshore, $12,211 at Electa Lee), the schools face systemic issues beyond funding. Bayshore High School does have a relative bright spot: its graduation rate of 89.6% is above the district average (87.6%), indicating some support systems help students persist to graduation even with low test scores. Overall, the data shows that improving attendance is the most powerful lever for academic improvement in this area, and the success of Electa Lee’s magnet program raises questions about whether its strategies can be applied more broadly to lift the entire school’s performance.
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