Summary:
Buhl Joint District in Idaho includes four schools – Popplewell Elementary School, Buhl Middle School, Buhl High School, and Wakapa Academy – serving roughly 1,198 students from pre-K through grade 12, and the district as a whole trails Idaho averages in math and English language arts while dealing with above-average chronic absenteeism.
Among the schools, Buhl Middle School stands out for its English language arts results, with 43.8% proficiency overall and a steady climb from 35.7% in 6th grade to 53.7% in 8th grade, nearly matching the state average. However, its math proficiency is just 29.4%, well below the state’s 43.1%. Buhl High School has the district’s lowest free/reduced-price lunch rate (40.9%) and a notably low 8.8% chronic absenteeism rate, but lacks recent test score data. Popplewell Elementary School serves the highest-poverty population (59.4% free/reduced lunch) and shows a sharp math collapse in 5th grade, dropping from 43.5% in 4th grade to just 25.5%. Wakapa Academy is a tiny alternative high school with only 11 students and a 31.3% chronic absenteeism rate.
District-wide, no school reaches state averages in math or ELA, and chronic absenteeism is a major concern at Popplewell (21.2%) and Buhl Middle (18.2%), both exceeding the state’s 13.8%. Per-student spending varies from $8,001 at Popplewell to over $10,400 at Buhl High, meaning the highest-need students receive the least funding. The district is rated 1 star, and rankings for both Popplewell and Buhl Middle place them near the bottom of Idaho schools. For parents, the clear bright spot is Buhl Middle’s ELA program, while the biggest red flags are elementary math performance, high absenteeism outside the traditional high school, and persistent achievement gaps tied to poverty.
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