Summary:
The city of Franklin, Illinois is home to three schools - two elementary schools (Franklin East Grade School and Franklin Elementary School) and one junior/senior high school (Franklin Junior/Senior High School) - all part of the Franklin CUSD 1 district. While the elementary schools are performing well, the junior/senior high school has struggled, highlighting a significant gap in academic achievement between the two levels.
Franklin Elementary School stands out as the top-performing school in the district, consistently ranking in the top 30% of Illinois elementary schools and earning a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school boasts strong academic performance, with over 60% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts and nearly 50% proficient in Math. In contrast, Franklin Junior/Senior High School has performed poorly, ranking in the bottom half of Illinois high schools and earning only a 3-star rating. While the high school maintains a relatively high 4-year graduation rate of 89%, it struggles with high chronic absenteeism (25.4%) and lower academic achievement, particularly in math where only 23.3% of students are proficient or better.
The data also reveals notable differences in funding and resources between the schools. Franklin Junior/Senior High School spends significantly more per student ($25,079) compared to the elementary schools ($15,000 per student), yet the high school's performance lags behind. Additionally, Franklin East Grade School has the highest percentage of free/reduced lunch recipients at 50.67%, which could suggest equity concerns within the district that warrant further investigation.
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