Burley Senior High School

Burley Senior High School serves 1,031 students in grades 9–12 in Burley, Idaho, as part of the Cassia County Joint District. About 45% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the school's student-teacher ratio of 20.2 is the highest among nearby high schools. Burley has consistently ranked in the bottom 10–25% of Idaho high schools over the past decade, currently sitting at 104th out of 122 schools statewide.

Academically, Burley trails state averages by wide margins. Only 25.6% of students are proficient in math and 26.2% in science, compared with state averages of 33.1% and 41.2%. ELA proficiency is 43.9% versus 61.3% statewide. The most telling comparison is with Declo Senior High School, located just nine miles away in the same district with similar per-pupil funding. Declo's ELA proficiency rate is 76.5% — a 32.6-point gap that points to school-level factors like curriculum and instructional quality rather than district resources alone.

There are some bright spots. Chronic absenteeism is just 9.3%, well below the district (12.5%) and state (13.8%) averages. However, the graduation rate has fallen from 91.6% in 2022–2023 to 82.5% in 2024–2025, now matching the state average exactly. Math and science proficiency remain stuck in the low 20s, raising questions about college and career readiness. For parents, the picture is mixed: Burley has healthy attendance and average graduation rates, but academic outcomes — especially in STEM subjects — are areas of genuine concern that deserve attention.