Summary:
Covert Elementary School is the only elementary school in the Covert Public Schools district, serving grades PK through 5 in a small, rural Michigan community with just 144 students enrolled.
This school faces significant challenges tied to poverty and attendance. About 81% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and the chronic absenteeism rate sits at 31.7% — nearly 4 percentage points higher than the state average. These factors help explain why academic proficiency is well below state norms. On the M-Step, 3rd-grade English Language Arts proficiency was 18.75% in the 2025-2026 school year, compared to the state average of 38.2%, while 5th-grade ELA was 20.8% versus 43.8% statewide. Math and science scores are similarly low, with 3rd-grade math at 21.1% (state: 42.7%) and 5th-grade science at 20.8% (state: 40%). The school’s state ranking has slipped from the 23rd percentile in 2023-2024 to the 14th percentile in 2025-2026, meaning it is falling further behind other Michigan schools over time.
On a more positive note, the district invests heavily in this school. Per-student spending is exceptionally high at $24,898, and the student-teacher ratio is a favorable 14.1 to 1, allowing for smaller class sizes and more individualized attention. There is also a small sign of improvement: 3rd-grade ELA proficiency rose from 12% in 2024-2025 to 18.75% in 2025-2026, suggesting recent instructional efforts may be starting to take hold. However, the gap between high spending and low outcomes indicates that financial resources alone are not enough to overcome the deep-rooted effects of poverty and chronic absenteeism. For parents, this school offers strong per-pupil investment and small classes, but families should be aware that academic performance remains well below state averages, and addressing attendance will be critical to improving student success.
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