Webster County High School

Webster County High School is a very small public high school in Preston, GA, serving just 58 students in grades 9 through 12, and it is the only high school in the Webster County district.

This school faces serious academic challenges. On the most recent state end-of-course exams, only 13% of students were proficient in Algebra I and 13.3% in Biology—far below the state averages of 48.1% and 47.2%. These scores have also been declining steadily over the past few years. By comparison, Schley Middle High School, just 18 miles away, posts proficiency rates 50 to 60 percentage points higher, and even Stewart County High School, which serves a similar high-poverty population, outperforms Webster County in both subjects. Chronic absenteeism is also a concern, with 21.5% of students missing significant school time—well above the state average of 17.7% and much higher than nearby schools like Stewart County (4.3%) and Schley County (8.7%).

Despite these struggles, the school does have some bright spots. It maintains a perfect 100% graduation rate and boasts a very low student-teacher ratio of 9.2, which usually means more individual attention. However, the school spends a substantial $27,668 per student—more than double what Schley County spends—yet still sees the lowest academic outcomes in the region. This suggests that factors like attendance and resource allocation may be playing a bigger role than class size. The school’s overall state ranking has dropped dramatically over the past decade, from the 58th percentile in 2016-2017 to the 7th percentile today. It’s also worth noting that English Language Arts scores were not included in this release; those results will come out in December. For parents, the key takeaway is that while the school is small and supportive, academic proficiency and attendance are areas that need significant attention.