Summary:
Riggins, Idaho is home to one elementary school, Riggins Elementary School, which serves grades PK–5 as part of the Salmon River Joint School District, a small rural district ranked 83rd out of 101 Idaho districts. With just 92 students enrolled, Riggins Elementary is a very small school with a student-teacher ratio of 11.5:1, meaning class sizes are relatively low and students may receive more individualized attention. The school also spends a substantial $20,090 per student, which is high and likely reflects the fixed costs of running a small, rural school.
Academically, Riggins Elementary struggles to match state averages. In the 2025–2026 school year, math proficiency was 37%, compared to 39.3% for the district and 43.1% for the state. English Language Arts proficiency was also 37%, which is 14.2 points below the district average and 17 points below the state average. In 5th grade science, only 31.3% of students were proficient, well below the state's 44% rate. However, 4th graders at Riggins Elementary scored 44.4% in both math and ELA, matching the district average exactly, though still trailing the state.
One of the most striking findings is a sharp drop in math proficiency, which fell from 51.4% in 2024–2025—when the school was above both district and state averages—to 37% in 2025–2026. Chronic absenteeism affects 15.7% of students, better than the district's 18.5% but worse than the state's 13.8%, representing roughly 14 students. The school also serves a high-poverty population, with 68.48% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Riggins Elementary has consistently ranked in the lower half to lower quarter of Idaho elementary schools over the past decade, currently sitting at the 25th percentile statewide.
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