Boys Ranch Independent School District (Isd)

The Boys Ranch Independent School District (Isd) is a very small, rural district in the Texas Panhandle serving just 148 students across three schools: Boys Ranch High School, Blakemore Middle, and Mimi Farley Elementary.

Despite spending over $30,000 per student and having incredibly small class sizes (student-teacher ratios under 5:1), the district ranks in the 16th percentile statewide. The standout school is Blakemore Middle, which has historically been the academic bright spot, ranking in the 89th percentile in 2023-2024 and showing strong performance in 7th-grade math (60% proficiency vs. 31% state average) and 8th-grade science (69% vs. 46% state). In contrast, Mimi Farley Elementary experienced a dramatic collapse, dropping from a 5-star, 93rd percentile school in 2023-2024 to the 1st percentile (0 stars) in 2025-2026, with 4th-grade math at 0% proficiency. Boys Ranch High School is a graduation success story, boasting a perfect 100% graduation rate and 0% dropout rate, though its academic test scores are low, particularly in Algebra I where only 5.7% of students are proficient compared to the state average of 54%.

A key takeaway is the extreme volatility in such a small district—with only 21 elementary students, the performance of just one or two children can swing a school's ranking by dozens of percentile points. There is also a clear pattern of strength in science and social studies (U.S. History at 71% proficiency) versus a systemic weakness in mathematics across all grade levels. This suggests that while the district excels at keeping students in school and graduating them, it faces significant challenges in core academic instruction, particularly in math, that may require specialized interventions beyond the generous per-pupil spending.