Summary:
The city of Runge, Texas, is served by the small Runge Independent School District (Isd), which operates just two schools—Runge Elementary (Pre-K through 6th grade) and Runge High School (7th through 12th grade)—with a total enrollment of only 162 students, a high poverty rate, and a district ranking in the bottom 14% of Texas.
The two schools present a stark contrast in performance. Runge High School is the district's standout, showing strong improvement: its state ranking jumped from the 12th percentile to the 41st percentile over three years. It excels in specific End-of-Course exams, with 88.89% proficiency in English I Reading and 80% in Biology—both well above state averages—and boasts a solid 92.9% graduation rate. In contrast, Runge Elementary faces severe challenges, consistently ranking in the bottom 7% of Texas elementary schools. Its test scores are critically low, with only 18.18% of 3rd graders proficient in Reading and just 8.33% of 5th graders proficient in Math, compared to state averages above 47%.
Despite very low student-teacher ratios (9.4:1 at the elementary and 6.1:1 at the high school) and high per-pupil spending ($12,726 at the elementary and $18,397 at the high school), the elementary school's performance remains stagnant. The most alarming finding is a foundational crisis in elementary math, where 0% of 4th graders were proficient in the 2024-2025 school year. Meanwhile, the high school's success on upper-level exams suggests focused improvement efforts are working there, but the district must urgently address the elementary school's math struggles to prevent long-term academic harm.
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