Prospect Charter School

Prospect Charter School is a small, rural, K–12 alternative charter school in Prospect, Oregon, serving 215 students across all thirteen grade levels from one campus. It is effectively a one-school district — its figures are identical to those of Prospect School District 59 for nearly every measure — and about three-quarters of students (74.9%) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Class sizes are small, at 11.4 students per teacher, and per-student spending has risen to $29,334.

The closest comparison is Butte Falls Charter School, 15 miles away, a near twin in structure and student needs. Prospect graduates 85.7% of its students — 23.2 points above Butte Falls (62.5%) and 2.7 points above the state (83.0%) — but its chronic absenteeism rate of 49.2% is far worse than both (37.4% and 33.5%). Academically, math proficiency is 9.6% versus 27.5% at Butte Falls and 32.9% statewide; ELA is 22.4% versus 31.4% and 43.8%. Science is the one subject where Prospect leads, 25.5% versus 13.6%. Notably, Prospect spends $9,530 less per student than its neighbor.

Academic results are strong at the ends and weak in the middle. Prospect beats the state in 3rd-grade ELA (45.5% vs. 41.5%) and 3rd-grade math (54.5% vs. 41.3%), and again in 11th-grade ELA (46.7% vs. 46.0%) and 11th-grade science (40% vs. 33.8%). In between, results drop sharply: 6th-grade ELA is 6.7% (state 41.8%) and 4th-grade ELA 12.5% (state 43.5%), while math in grades 4 through 8 runs from under 5% (grades 4 and 7) to 6.7%. Because 215 students are spread across thirteen grades, cohorts are small and a few students can swing a percentage, and some state figures are suppressed for privacy. Bottom line: graduation has climbed from 40.9% to 85.7% in four years while proficiency and attendance still lag.