Pulaski County

Pulaski County Schools serve approximately 1,320 students across three schools in Hawkinsville, Georgia, with an elementary school (PK-5), a middle school (6-8), and a high school (9-12), all located on a shared campus. The district ranks in the 17th percentile statewide, and every student qualifies for free or reduced lunch, reflecting a fully economically disadvantaged population.

Pulaski County Elementary School is the district's strongest performer, ranking in the 35th percentile statewide. Its 3rd-grade math proficiency (40.2%) is the highest in the district, and its 2024-2025 3rd-grade ELA score (45.2%) actually beat the state average by more than 10 points. However, performance drops sharply by 5th grade, with math at 34.6% and science at 27.0%. Pulaski County Middle School represents a critical transition point, with 6th-grade math proficiency falling to just 20.5%—a 14-point drop from 5th grade—and 8th-grade science at only 14.4%, less than half the state rate. Hawkinsville High School shows the most troubling trend, collapsing from the 49th to the 13th percentile in two years. End-of-course proficiency rates are alarmingly low: Algebra I at 22.6%, Biology at 20.6%, and U.S. History at 17.2%, all roughly half the state averages.

Chronic absenteeism rises with grade level, from 21.6% at the elementary school to 28.4% at the middle school and 32.0% at the high school—nearly double the state rate of 17.7%. Despite low test scores, the high school's graduation rate (91.3%) exceeds the state average, a paradox that may indicate grade inflation. Per-student spending ($12,386-$13,578) and student-teacher ratios (13.8-15.3:1) are reasonable, suggesting challenges are not resource-based. The elementary school's early-grade success proves students can achieve at or above state levels, but those gains are not sustained. The district's priority should be replicating early elementary practices while addressing the middle school transition and high school disengagement that derail student progress.