Summary
Dorman High is a large public high school in Roebuck, SC, serving roughly 3,920 students in grades 9-12, making it the biggest high school in the Spartanburg area by a significant margin. It is part of Spartanburg 06, a district that currently holds a 2-star rating. The school serves a predominantly low-income population, with nearly 73% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.
The most pressing concern for Dorman is its chronic absenteeism rate, which has climbed from 18.9% in 2020-2021 to 32.8% in 2024-2025—well above the state average of 22.3% and higher than nearby Boiling Springs High (21.8%) and James F. Byrnes High (23.1%). This attendance crisis likely explains much of the school's stagnant academic performance, which has hovered in the 2-star range for a decade. Academically, Dorman shows a mixed picture: Algebra 1 proficiency dropped sharply from 72.4% to 49.2% in one year, while English 1 proficiency has held steady around 55-59%. On a positive note, the graduation rate has improved to 88.6%, now above the state average, and the dropout rate has fallen to just 1.4%.
Dorman's greatest strength lies in its Gifted and Talented program, which jumped to the 73rd percentile statewide—a dramatic improvement. However, significant equity gaps remain: Disabled students rank in the 25th percentile, Hispanic students in the 19th, and low-income students in the 37th. The comparison to Boiling Springs High, which achieves a 78th percentile ranking with $3,500 less per student in spending, suggests Dorman's challenges are not purely resource-driven. With a student-teacher ratio of 17.5:1 and per-student spending of $12,971, Dorman has adequate resources but appears to struggle with the logistical challenges of its size and the high rate of student absences.
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