Summary:
Florence 05 is a small, three-school district in rural South Carolina serving about 1,143 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, and it currently holds a 2-star rating, ranking 42nd out of 75 districts statewide.
For parents, the standout school is Johnsonville Middle, which earns a 3-star rating and ranks in the 56th percentile among South Carolina middle schools—the best relative performance in the district. It posts a perfect 100% proficiency rate in Algebra 1 and showed a remarkable 15-point jump in 8th-grade math, while its 8th-grade ELA scores actually beat the state average. Johnsonville High also shows promise, with a graduation rate of 88.8% (above the state’s 86.7%), a dropout rate nearly half the state average, and strong Algebra 1 scores. However, it struggles with English 1, where only 48.7% of students are proficient versus 60.9% statewide. The biggest concern is Johnsonville Elementary, whose state ranking has fallen three straight years to 451st. Its 4th-grade science proficiency is just 19.8% compared to the 51.6% state average, and math scores in grades 4 and 5 lag far behind state norms.
District-wide, chronic absenteeism is a serious issue, affecting 28–32% of students at every campus versus the 22.3% state average, with the middle school worst at 31.8%. Per-student spending varies notably: the middle school receives $16,670 per student, the high school $15,192, and the elementary school just $12,975—a gap that may help explain performance differences. The elementary school also shows extreme year-over-year swings, such as a 31.5-point drop in 4th-grade ELA and a 23.5-point gain in 3rd-grade ELA, suggesting instability in instruction or cohorts. Science is the district’s weakest subject overall, especially at the elementary level. Despite these challenges, the high school’s strong graduation and dropout rates indicate effective student support, even where test scores fall short.
Thank you for your feedback!