Summary:
Humboldt City Schools is a Tennessee district ranked dead last in the state — 141st out of 141 districts — serving about 1,044 students across three schools: East Elementary School (grades 2–6), Humboldt Junior/Senior High School (grades 7–12), and Stigall Primary School (grades PK–1). East Elementary and Stigall Primary make up about 61% of enrollment, while the high school serves the remaining 39%.
Despite the district’s overall 0-star rating, each school has its own notable data point. Humboldt Junior/Senior High School stands out for its 96.9% graduation rate — well above the state’s 90.5% — and a dropout rate of just 3.1%, less than half the state average. It also posts the district’s best proficiency rates in Science (23.9%) and Social Studies (28.7%) and was the only school to earn even 1 star in a recent year. East Elementary School has the strongest attendance in the district, with an 18.4% chronic absenteeism rate that matches the state average, and the highest ELA proficiency at just 13.2% — still far below the state’s 40.6%. Stigall Primary School has no test scores because it serves grades PK–1, but its 27.9% chronic absenteeism rate is a warning sign: nearly 3 in 10 of its youngest students are missing enough school to put them at risk before they ever take a TNReady test.
Across the district, proficiency is far below state averages in every subject — math proficiency is 6.7% versus the state’s 43.0%, and ELA is 11.6% versus 40.6%. The high school shows a puzzling gap between English II (24.2% proficient) and English I (6.1% proficient), and both ranked schools have lost ground over three years: East Elementary fell from the 5th to the 2nd percentile, and the high school from the 10th to the 2nd percentile. Per-pupil spending is substantial ($15,108–$16,762), yet outcomes remain low, while chronic absenteeism outside East Elementary is severe. The bright spot is graduation, but the overall picture is one of a district facing profound academic challenges.
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