Summary:
Union, South Carolina is served by a single public high school, Union County High, which enrolls approximately 1,024 students in grades 9-12 and is part of the Union 01 school district.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Union County High is facing significant challenges, particularly with student engagement and academic performance. The school's state ranking has fallen sharply from the 33rd percentile in 2023-2024 to the 14th percentile in 2025-2026, a decline of 52 positions. A major concern is chronic absenteeism, which stands at 32.9%—meaning nearly one in three students misses substantial school time. This rate is about 10 percentage points higher than both the district and state averages, and it likely contributes to the school's elevated dropout rate of 4.7%, which is more than double the state's 2.1%. The graduation rate of 83.6% also trails the state average of 86.7%.
Academically, the school consistently scores below state proficiency averages across all subjects. In 2024-2025, English 1 proficiency was just 40.56% compared to the state's 61.66%, while Algebra 1 proficiency was 60.19% versus the state's 73.95%. The strongest subject is English 2, where 79.3% of students were proficient, though this still lags the state. There is a mixed trend: English 1 scores improved slightly to 44.81% in 2025-2026, but English 2 and U.S. History scores declined year-over-year. With per-student spending at $12,963 and a student-teacher ratio of 21.3:1, the school's resources appear adequate, yet outcomes suggest that addressing the high absenteeism rate could be the most effective lever for improving both dropout rates and test scores across the board.
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