Original Research by School Decision on Cedar Unified District (4395)
Cedar Unified District serves a small student population in Navajo County, Arizona, spanning preschool through twelfth grade. The district's enrollment is very small, and the student body is overwhelmingly Native American, with a very small share of Hispanic students and a tiny number of multiracial students. The free-or-reduced-price lunch rate was not reported, and neither were the shares of students with disabilities or English learners, so the economic and support needs of the student population are not fully visible from the available data.
On state testing, the results are largely suppressed for the 2024-25 school year, meaning the state did not publish proficiency rates for individual grade levels in math, English language arts, or science. This suppression typically happens when a very small number of students are tested in a given grade, and the tested counts reported for each grade were indeed very small, so a parent should understand that the published data cannot provide a reliable picture of academic performance at the grade level. The multi-year trend data shows that for the district as a whole, the overall proficiency rate in math was very low, and the overall rate in English language arts was also very low. Because these are one-year snapshots with no prior year to compare, it is not possible to say whether performance is improving or declining.
The four-year graduation rate was not reported, and there is no information on the high school grade enrollment in the data provided. The district's directory shows it operates two active schools: Jeddito School and White Cone High School. A third school, White Cone - Inactive, is listed as inactive.
A significant concern visible in the data is the chronic absenteeism rate, which falls in the bottom quartile among Navajo County's districts. The rate is very high, and a parent would want to understand what the district is doing to address attendance. Per-pupil spending is in the upper range compared to other districts in the county, so the district is spending at a notably high level. Without more information about how those funds are allocated, it is difficult to assess whether that spending translates into programs or supports that meet student needs.
The district brief found little publicly reported information about recent changes or initiatives at Cedar Unified. This is common for very small, rural districts that do not produce regular public communications or media coverage. A parent or resident considering this district would face limited online information and would likely need to contact the district office directly to learn about curriculum, extracurricular options, and school climate. There is no data on student discipline, staffing ratios, or course access, so the picture of day-to-day school life remains largely unknown from the available evidence.
See more original research from School Decision →