Randolph County

Randolph County Schools is a small, rural district in southwest Georgia serving about 635 students across three campuses: Randolph County Elementary School (PK-5), Randolph County Middle School (6-8), and Randolph Clay High School (9-12). Every student in the district qualifies for free or reduced lunch, making this a highly economically disadvantaged community, yet the schools show notable strengths in engagement and graduation.

The middle school is the district’s standout, climbing from the 19th to the 48th percentile in just two years. Its 6th grade math proficiency (50%) is more than 9 points above the state average, and its chronic absenteeism rate (7.1%) is the lowest in the district. The elementary school shows bright spots too—4th grade math (57.1%) beats the state by 7 points—but performance is volatile, with large swings in 3rd grade math and 5th grade science from year to year. The high school excels at keeping students on track: its 94.2% graduation rate is 7 points above the state, and chronic absenteeism (8.1%) is less than half the state rate. However, End of Course scores in Algebra I, Biology, and US History all trail state averages by 9 to 20 points.

Across the district, chronic absenteeism is a clear strength—all three schools are well below the state’s 17.7% rate. The middle and high schools have improved their rankings significantly, suggesting recent initiatives are working. The main challenges are elementary math (especially 3rd and 5th grades) and high school academic readiness, despite strong graduation numbers. Per-student spending varies widely, from $14,991 at the middle school to $20,867 at the elementary school, with the top-performing middle school spending the least. Overall, this is a district making meaningful progress, with the middle school’s rapid improvement offering a model for the other campuses.