Lakeside High School

Lakeside High School is a small rural high school in Plummer, Idaho, serving 125 students in grades 9–12 as part of the Plummer-Worley Joint District, where 70.4% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch — the highest poverty rate among the three nearby high schools compared here. By comparison, St Maries High School has a 46.1% free/reduced-price rate and Kootenai Junior/Senior High School has a 36.0% rate. This economic need is one of the most important things to understand about the school, and it shows up clearly in attendance and achievement data.

Academically, Lakeside has improved from the very bottom of Idaho's rankings but still trails the state. In the 2025-26 SchoolDigger rankings, Lakeside ranks 97th out of 122 Idaho high schools (20th percentile), on par with St Maries High School (101st) and well behind Kootenai Junior/Senior High School (41st). Math proficiency is 21.4% versus the state's 33.1%, and ELA proficiency is 50.0% versus the state's 61.3%. The school spends about $21,499 per student — more than either nearby school — yet outcomes are much lower than Kootenai's, which suggests that factors like poverty and attendance, rather than funding alone, are driving performance.

The clearest challenge is chronic absenteeism: 44.1% of Lakeside students were chronically absent in 2025-26, more than triple the state rate of 13.8%. This has been a persistent issue, with rates above 56% in recent years. Graduation rates have also been volatile, swinging from just 50.0% in 2022-23 to 82.5% in 2024-25 — reflecting how much a small cohort of roughly 30 students per grade can move the numbers. Still, there are signs of progress: the school has climbed from the 2nd percentile in 2008-09 to the 20th percentile today, and ELA proficiency has more than tripled since 2022-23. Lakeside remains a school with real strengths to build on, but improving attendance and academic support will be essential in the years ahead.