Summary:
In zip code 83861 (Saint Maries, Idaho), three public schools serve 810 students across grades PK–12, all belonging to the St Maries Joint District.
The three schools in this small, economically challenged district are all struggling academically. St Maries High School has fallen the farthest: it was ranked in the 72nd percentile just a few years ago but now sits at the 17th percentile, with only 48.1% proficiency in English and 22.2% in science. Its graduation rate (82.5%) matches the state, but chronic absenteeism (42.4%) is over three times the state average. St Maries Middle School also saw a sharp decline, particularly in math, dropping from 36.1% to 21.3% proficiency in one year; its rank slid from the 53rd to 23rd percentile. The lone bright spot is 7th-grade English (58.3% proficient), which beats the state average. Heyburn Elementary School has the lowest ranking of the three (6th percentile) and the highest economic disadvantage (54.9% free/reduced lunch), with math proficiency at just 29% and English at 35.8% – both far below state averages.
District-wide, math is the biggest weakness: no school reaches even 30% proficiency, compared to the state’s 43.1%. Chronic absenteeism is alarmingly high at all three schools, from 19.7% at the elementary to 32.2% at the middle school, well above the state's 13.8%. Student-teacher ratios are reasonable (14.1:1 to 17.1:1), and spending per student is moderate, but these resources have not translated into improved outcomes. The middle school, which has the highest student-teacher ratio, experienced the largest test-score drop. Overall, this district is in a clear academic slump, with declining rankings and test scores across every school. The most pressing needs are addressing chronic absenteeism, rebuilding math instruction, and investigating why middle school performance collapsed so suddenly.
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