Liberal Senior High

Liberal Senior High in Liberal, Kansas, enrolls 1,421 students in grades 9–12, and there are no other schools within 20 miles. Its 2025–26 proficiency rates were below state levels in every reported subject: 19% in ELA, 13% in math, and 14% in science, compared with 46%, 41%, and 38% statewide. The most important finding for families is that students’ proficiency remains substantially below state results across all three subjects.

Science is the school’s strongest relative subject, though it remains below both district and state rates: the gap was 2 percentage points from the district and 24 from the state. The gaps were larger in ELA—5 points from the district and 27 from the state—and math—6 points from the district and 28 from the state. The school also had higher chronic absenteeism than the Liberal district and state in 2025–26: 27%, versus 20% and 18%. No nearby-school results were supplied, so local school comparisons are not available.

Test proficiency has improved since 2022–23, rising 11 points in ELA, 7 in math, and 6 in science, but the state made larger gains in each subject, so the gaps widened slightly. Chronic absenteeism has fallen 4 points since 2022–23, but remains high. Graduation is a relative bright spot: the 2023–24 rate was 90%, matching district and state rates. SchoolDigger ranked the school 316th of 340 statewide, at the 7th percentile and 0 stars, in 2025–26; the district ranked at the 1st percentile. The student–teacher ratio was 15.5, and 86% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in the latest years reported; these figures provide context but do not explain test results. In SchoolDigger’s statewide subgroup rankings, Special Education Students reached the 35th percentile in 2025–26, up from the 6th percentile the year before, while English Language Learner Students fell to the 17th percentile from a high of 56 in 2023–24.