Summary:
Decatur County is home to six schools—three elementary, one middle, and two high schools—serving roughly 4,178 students in a predominantly rural, high-poverty area of southwest Georgia, where nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced lunch.
The standout performer is Bainbridge Middle School, which posted an extraordinary 94.8% proficiency rate on the Algebra I End of Course exam in 2025-2026—far above the state average of 48.1%—and also exceeded state averages in 8th grade science (39.7% vs. 29.7%). This school is the district's only one showing consistent three-year improvement in its state ranking, climbing from the 31st to the 46th percentile. By contrast, Bainbridge High School has seen its state ranking slide from 137th to 266th over three years, with Algebra I proficiency dropping from 45.7% to 27.3%. Still, the high school posts a strong 96.6% graduation rate and a 0.8% dropout rate—both better than state averages. The district's alternative school, New Beginning Learning Center, faces severe challenges: a 62.3% graduation rate, 7.8% dropout rate, and 68.6% chronic absenteeism, with near-zero test proficiency across subjects.
Chronic absenteeism is a district-wide concern, with West Bainbridge Primary School at 33.8%, Jones-Wheat Primary School at 30.7%, and Bainbridge Middle at 31.3%—all roughly double the state rate of 17.7%. Only Hutto Elementary School approaches the state average at 20.6%, and it posts the district's strongest elementary math scores. Per-student spending is fairly uniform ($12,075-$14,453), and student-teacher ratios are favorable (12.2-14.8:1) at traditional schools, though New Beginning's 24:1 ratio stands out. While most subjects trail state averages by 10-20 points, Bainbridge Middle's Algebra I and science results suggest targeted strengths that could serve as models for improvement across the district.
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