High Schools in Spartanburg 05

The Spartanburg 05 school district, located in the upstate region of South Carolina, is served by a single high school, James F. Byrnes High, which enrolls 2,391 students across grades 9 through 12.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that James F. Byrnes High is a solid, mid-tier school in the state, ranking 97th out of 245 high schools in South Carolina. The school's greatest strengths are in the humanities: English 1 proficiency (64.3%) beats the state average (60.9%), and U.S. History proficiency (68.6%) also outpaces the state (62.6%). However, math is a clear weakness. Algebra 1 proficiency sits at just 45.8%, which is nearly 19 percentage points below the state average of 64.6%. This is a significant gap that parents of students who struggle with math should be aware of. The school also posted an unusually low Algebra 1 score of 14.7% in the 2024-2025 school year, which improved dramatically to 45.8% the following year—a jump that suggests a possible data reporting issue or a major change in testing, but either way, it highlights inconsistency in math outcomes.

On the positive side, the school has a strong graduation rate of 91.2%, well above the state's 86.7%, and a low dropout rate of 1.8%. Yet, chronic absenteeism is a concern at 23.1%, higher than both the district (19.1%) and state (22.3%) averages. Despite this, the school still manages to graduate most students, which may indicate effective credit recovery programs. Per-student spending is $11,324, with a student-teacher ratio of 19.1:1. The school's state ranking slipped slightly from 84th to 97th, suggesting other schools are improving faster. Overall, James F. Byrnes High offers a strong education in English and history, but parents should look into math support and monitor attendance to ensure their child stays on track.