South Umpqua School District 19

South Umpqua School District 19 is a high-poverty Oregon district serving about 1,409 students across five schools: three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Every school has a free/reduced lunch rate between 81.08% and 83.9%, so poverty is nearly universal and does not explain the differences between schools. The district overall ranks 96th of 141 (32nd percentile, 2 stars) and trails the state in English language arts (34.4% vs 43.8%), math (22.3% vs 32.9%), and science (23.3% vs 30.6%) — but that average hides large school-to-school variation, from a 3-star school to a 0-star school.

South Umpqua High School is the district's standout: it rose from the 10th percentile in 2024–25 to the 52nd percentile (3 stars) in 2025–26, and its graduation rate of 84.0% beats both the district (81.7%) and the state (83.0%). Its ELA and science results are above state, but math (14.5%) and chronic absenteeism (56.9%) are serious concerns. Canyonville School has the strongest elementary/K–8 profile (48th percentile, 2 stars), matches the state in ELA at 43.8%, and has the lowest absenteeism (25.1%) and lowest student-teacher ratio (13.2). Myrtle Creek Elementary School improved from the 8th to the 35th percentile with exceptional 3rd-grade results (55.9% ELA, 61.8% math). Tri City Elementary School has the district's best all-grade math (32.5%), just under the state's 32.9%.

The clearest concern is Coffenberry Middle School, which has stayed in the bottom decile for three years with 0 stars, the lowest ELA (21%) and math (13.1%) in the district, the highest poverty rate (83.9%), and the highest spending ($17,952) — showing that money alone is not tracking results here. Math is weak everywhere: no school meets the state average in all-grade math, with bright spots mainly in early grades. Absenteeism is concentrated at the secondary level, while grade-level scores swing widely, likely because grade cohorts are small.