Burns High School

Burns High School is a grades 9–12 comprehensive high school in Burns, Oregon, enrolling 215 students, and it belongs to Harney County School District 3, which ranks 132 of 141 districts in Oregon (6th percentile, 0 stars). The school’s most recent rank is 225 of 271 for 2025–2026 (17th percentile, 1 star), a decline from the mid-2010s when it ranked 70 of 292 (76th percentile, 4 stars). The only nearby school is Monroe School, about 0.86 miles away—a 15-student grades 6–12 school in the ODE YCEP District, making it a specialized rather than a true peer.

Burns High’s 2024–2025 graduation rate was 83.3%, near the state average (83.0%) but volatile—it dropped to 42.9% in 2022–2023. Chronic absenteeism is a major concern at 47.5%, far above the district’s 37.7% and state’s 33.5%. In 2025–2026, proficiency was low: ELA 10.7% (state 43.8%), math under 5% (state 32.9%), and science 26.1% (state 30.6%). Despite spending $26,808 per student (up from $21,174 in 2021–2022) and a student–teacher ratio of 12.2 (lower than Monroe’s 15), outcomes remain far below state averages, suggesting resources alone are not the binding constraint.

Subgroup data show uneven effectiveness: female students rank near the state median (52nd percentile, 3 stars in 2024–2025), while male students rank much lower (17th percentile, 1 star in 2025–2026) and low socio-economic status students rank very low (9th percentile, 0 stars in 2022–2023). Monroe School is much smaller and higher-poverty (80% free/reduced lunch vs. Burns’ 35.81%), with school-level test scores largely suppressed by the state; its 92.9% graduation rate contrasts with its district’s 51.1% in the ODE YCEP District. Overall, Burns High School is larger and more conventional, with better science than Monroe’s district and a lower student–teacher ratio, but core ELA/math proficiency, chronic absenteeism, and subgroup gaps remain significant challenges within a district that itself ranks near the bottom of Oregon.