Original Research by School Decision on Pomerene Elementary District (4188)
Pomerene Elementary District serves students from preschool through eighth grade in a rural southeastern Arizona setting. The district’s single school, Pomerene Elementary School, is the only school it operates. Since the district does not include high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and state accountability measures that follow a K-12 system simply do not apply here.
The district is small. Enrollment across all grades is modest, and the grades themselves vary in size, with kindergarten having the most students and the middle school grades having the fewest. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic minority and a handful of students who identify as two or more races. Data on the share of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals was not available, nor were counts of students with disabilities or English learners. A parent may want to ask the school directly about these support categories.
Academic proficiency data came from the 2024-2025 school year, and the results are suppressed for all individual grade-level groups in math, English language arts, and science. Suppression happens when the number of test takers is too small to report publicly, which is common in very small districts. The academic trends report does provide aggregate figures for the district as a whole, showing that a modest share of students tested proficient or above in English language arts and a comparable share in math. These figures should be read with caution given the small total. A one-year snapshot tells little about direction.
The district’s chronic absenteeism rate places it in the top quartile among Cochise County’s districts, meaning its rate of chronic absence is lower than most of its county neighbors. This is a positive indicator of consistent student attendance. Per-pupil current spending falls in the upper half of the county’s middle range, which suggests the district invests at a level above the median for the area but is not the highest spender in the county. Housing in the district’s coverage area, largely tied to the Benson ZIP code, is notably more affordable than the statewide average home value, and rents are also far below the national mortgage-equivalent cost. For a family, this means the cost of living is a strength of the community, though the actual affordability for a given household depends on income.
Publicly reported information about recent district changes or initiatives was not found. The district does not appear to have a visible strategic plan or major policy shift in the recent record, so a family should expect a stable, low-profile operation. There is no information on program offerings such as gifted education, arts, or career and technical pathways at the elementary and middle school level. A parent should contact the school to learn what enrichment or academic support is available beyond the core curriculum.
No discipline data, staffing ratios, or course access details were available. The school environment data set is thin. The district is not a charter and not a magnet, and its Title I status is not reported.
For a family weighing this district, the appeal is a rural, small-school setting with relatively low housing costs and better-than-average attendance. The trade-offs are the lack of comparable academic performance data, the very small peer group in each grade, and the absence of a high school, meaning students must transition to another district after eighth grade. A parent should confirm what special education and English learner services are provided, since those counts were not in the record, and should visit the school to get a firsthand sense of the academic environment and support structure.
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