Ben Hill County

Ben Hill County Schools in Fitzgerald, Georgia, serves approximately 2,831 students across four schools—two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school—in a district where every school reports 100% free/reduced lunch eligibility, reflecting a high-poverty community.

Among the four schools, Ben Hill County Middle School stands out as the strongest performer. It is the only school in the district where students beat the state average in any subject—8th-grade science proficiency is 33.2% versus the state's 29.7%—and it has improved its state ranking from the 40th to the 46th percentile over two years. It also has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the district at 15.0%, below both the district and state averages. In contrast, Ben Hill Elementary School has dropped more than 200 spots in state rankings over the same period, falling from a 3-star to a 2-star rating, and its 5th-grade science proficiency (20.6%) trails the state by 23.6 points—the largest gap in the district. Fitzgerald High School School College and Career Academy posts a strong 90.8% graduation rate, well above the state's 87.2%, but its End of Course exam scores are 17 to 26 points below state averages, and its ranking has slipped from the 34th to the 18th percentile. Ben Hill County Primary School (PK-2) has the district's highest chronic absenteeism rate at 22.3% and the largest student-teacher ratio at 17:1, despite spending the most per student ($15,605).

Key takeaways for parents: the middle school is a bright spot with genuine academic strength in science, while the high school excels at getting students to graduation even though test scores lag. The elementary school's rapid decline and the primary school's absenteeism issues are red flags worth watching. District-wide, math proficiency gaps range from 5 to 25 points below state averages, and year-to-year high school scores swing dramatically—Algebra I dropped 14.6 points while Biology jumped 15.3 points—suggesting instability that families should monitor closely.