Best Public Schools in Rayland, OH

Rayland, Ohio has two schools in this dataset—Buckeye Local High School, grades 9–12, and Buckeye Local Junior High, grades 6–8—both in the Buckeye Local district and enrolling 658 students combined (359 high school, 299 junior high). The district is ranked 510th of 773 in Ohio, in the 34th percentile with 2 stars; free/reduced lunch data was not reported. No elementary or alternative schools are listed, so the available data covers only grades 6–12.

For parents comparing the two schools, the junior high has the clearest bright spot: Algebra I proficiency is 90.5% in 2025–2026, up from 75%, which is 28.9 points above the state and 48.3 points above the district. It also improved in 8th grade Math (19.2% to 43.0%) and 8th grade Science (47.2% to 57.6%), though it remains below the state in every other listed subject; 7th grade Math is 25.7%. The high school has a 95.5% graduation rate, matching the district, but that contrasts with weaker academics and attendance: it is ranked 660th of 795 (17th percentile, 1 star) and is below the state in all six EOC subjects. Its strongest EOC is American Government at 64.4%, still 7.2 points below the state, while Geometry (23.7%) and Algebra I (29.6%) are lowest.

Attendance is a major concern at both schools: chronic absenteeism is 52.1% at the high school and 44.1% at the junior high, both above the district’s 39.5%. Math is the weakest overall subject area, and Algebra I results swing sharply between the junior high’s 90.5% and the high school’s 29.6%. The junior high shows more upward momentum—improving in 8th grade Math (+23.8), Algebra I (+15.5), Science 8 (+10.4), and ELA 6 (+9.4)—while the high school mostly declined or stayed flat, except Geometry, which improved by +6.4. Resource differences do not obviously explain the gap: the high school has a lower student/teacher ratio (13.0 vs. 16.6) and higher per-student spending ($9,307 vs. $8,788, from 2018–19), yet lower relative test performance. Rank trends favor the junior high, ending at 35th percentile and 2 stars versus the high school’s 17th percentile and 1 star.