Summary:
Cardington-Lincoln Local is a small Ohio district serving roughly 920 students across three schools that together cover PK through 12th grade in the Cardington area of Morrow County: Cardington-Lincoln Elementary School (PK–4, 392 students), Cardington-Lincoln Middle School (5–8, 283 students), and Cardington-Lincoln High School (9–12, 245 students). The district ranks 559th of 773 Ohio districts — about the 28th percentile, or one star. Notably, each of the three schools individually carries a two-star rank-history rating, because the state does not rate schools and districts on the same scale.
Each school tells a different story. The elementary school is the only one with no test measure at or above the state average in either year; 4th-grade math fell 10.7 points and sits 22.9 points below state, while 3rd grade improved and its 12.7% chronic absenteeism is the lowest in the district. The middle school is the clearest improver: 5 of 11 tested measures beat the state in 2025-26, up from 1 of 11, with 7th-grade ELA up 22.9 points and 8th-grade math up 14.6. Its Algebra I proficiency was 100% two years running, though that almost certainly reflects a small, advanced group of test-takers. The high school posts a 94.1% graduation rate and beats the state in government, history, and biology, but Algebra I (25.4%) and Geometry (29.0%) fall far below state, and its 20.3% chronic absenteeism is the highest in the district.
Two patterns stand out. Absenteeism climbs with grade level — 12.7%, then 14.8%, then 20.3% — peaking in the same building with the weakest math results. Also, spending figures ($7,887 to $10,206 per student) date to 2018-19, so treat them as historical context, and free/reduced lunch data is blank for all three schools, so no poverty comparison is possible. Because these schools are small, a single-year swing may reflect one group of students rather than a trend. In short: the middle school is improving, the high school graduates students well despite weak math, and the elementary school is the one to watch.
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