Klamath County School District

The Klamath County School District serves a rural, high-poverty region of southern Oregon through 21 schools — 12 elementary, 2 middle, 6 high, and 1 alternative — where every school reports free or reduced lunch above 90%. Enrollment spans from 720 students at Henley High School to 27 at Gearhart Elementary School, about 6,774 students in all. The district ranks 78th of 141 in Oregon at the 45th percentile with 2 stars, and in 2025-2026 it trails the state in ELA (41.1% vs. 43.8%), math (28.3% vs. 32.9%), and science (28.5% vs. 30.6%).

Several schools stand out. Henley High School leads academically with ELA 69.5%, math 33.1%, science 55.5%, a 97.7% graduation rate, and 23.2% chronic absenteeism. Mazama High School posts the top science score at 56.3% and the highest graduation rate listed, 97.9%. Among smaller schools, Keno Elementary School has the highest all-grade math proficiency at 54.1%, Merrill Elementary School pairs ELA 54.5% and math 42.2% with the district's lowest chronic absenteeism at 12.6%, and Malin Elementary School reached 72.2% in both 4th-grade ELA and math. Lost River High School records the highest single result in the data, 85.7% in 11th-grade ELA.

Other schools face significant challenges. Falcon Heights, an alternative school, has 70.8% chronic absenteeism and a 58.2% graduation rate, with 11th-grade math under 5%; Brixner Junior High School reports ELA 33.0%, math 14.4%, and science 12.4%; and Stearns Elementary School shows ELA 25.2% and math 16.7%. Gilchrist Junior/Senior High School spends the most per student at $37,495 yet posts low scores and 59.6% chronic absenteeism, showing spending alone does not predict achievement. Schools with the highest absenteeism generally also have the lowest proficiency, and small schools like Gearhart have many state-suppressed scores that should be treated as unknown, not as zero.