Summary:
Bendle Public Schools is home to a single high school, Bendle High School, which serves grades 9-12 in Burton, MI, a small community where nearly 90% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Bendle High School faces significant challenges, ranking in the bottom 20th percentile of Michigan high schools. Test scores are well below state averages across every subject—for example, only 9.4% of 11th graders are proficient in science compared to 35.2% statewide, and just 25.9% meet SAT reading/writing benchmarks versus 52.1% statewide. The most pressing issue is a chronic absenteeism crisis: 53.4% of students are chronically absent, nearly double the state average of 27.9%. This directly impacts learning and likely explains the low proficiency rates and a dropout rate of 9.8% (state: 7.1%).
Despite these struggles, there are some bright spots. The graduation rate is 83.1%, remarkably close to the state average of 84.0%, suggesting the school successfully helps students stay on track to earn diplomas even when test scores lag. There is also a positive trend in SAT reading/writing proficiency, which jumped from 19.4% to 25.9% in one year. Per-student spending is relatively high at $16,285, though outcomes remain low—likely because the school must address the combined effects of poverty and absenteeism. For parents, the key takeaway is that Bendle High School is a high-need school where attendance is the biggest barrier to success. If your child attends regularly and receives extra academic support, they may still thrive, but the school’s overall performance indicates that significant intervention is needed to overcome the current challenges.
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