Fraser Public Schools

Fraser Public Schools is a mid-sized Michigan district serving about 4,366 students across 8 schools (6 elementary, 1 middle, and 1 high school) in a suburban area, holding a 3-star district rating. The clear standout is Richards Middle School, which earned a 4-star rating and ranks in the 71st percentile statewide—its best showing in three years—despite having the district’s highest chronic absenteeism rate (34.3%). This suggests strong instructional quality for students who attend regularly. Walt Disney Elementary is the most improved school, jumping 12 percentile points to the 59th percentile, and it does so while receiving the lowest per-student funding ($13,977). In contrast, Thomas A Edison Elementary receives the highest funding ($17,584) but ranks in the bottom half of the district, highlighting that spending alone doesn’t drive results.

Academically, the district shows a troubling math decline as students age: elementary math often exceeds state averages (e.g., Walt Disney’s 3rd grade at 65.9% vs. 42.9% state), but by 8th grade PSAT math barely matches state levels, and by 11th grade SAT math falls to just 17.2% proficiency versus the state’s 26.5%. English Language Arts shows the opposite trend, improving relative to state averages by 9th grade (70.5% vs. 60.2% state). Fraser High School posts excellent graduation (94.3%) and dropout (1.9%) rates, far better than state averages, though its SAT math scores remain a concern. A district-wide weakness is 5th grade social studies, where every elementary school falls below the state average of 27.5%, with Eisenhower Elementary at just 10.2%.

Chronic absenteeism varies widely within the district: Salk Elementary and Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary keep rates near 19%, while Richards Middle, Eisenhower, and Fraser High all exceed 33%. Mark Twain Elementary is the smallest school (339 students) and improved its ranking, while Eisenhower remains the district’s biggest challenge at the 41st percentile with high poverty and absenteeism. Overall, the district is improving at the middle and high school levels, but progress is uneven—some elementaries like Emerson and Edison declined—making school-by-school comparisons essential for parents.