The reported proficiency rate for English language arts is 38%.
Original Research by School Decision on Risco R-ii
Risco R-II is a small, rural school district in New Madrid County, Missouri, serving about 160 students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district operates two schools: Risco Elementary and Risco High. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with small numbers of Hispanic students and students of two or more races. The district’s total enrollment is small enough that each grade level typically has fewer than twenty students, creating a setting where students are well known to staff and peers.
State testing data for the 2024-25 school year is largely suppressed, which is common when small testing populations make results unreliable to report publicly. The one exception is fourth-grade English language arts, where just over a third of students scored proficient or advanced. For every other tested grade and subject, the state suppressed the proficiency rate. A parent should be aware that the district’s small size means that year-to-year test results can swing sharply and that the state will not publish results for groups below a certain count. The district’s overall proficiency index, which averages the few reported rates, sits above the midpoint among New Madrid County’s three districts. That is a thin comparison, but it places Risco R-II in the middle of a small field.
The district’s chronic absenteeism rate is below the midpoint among the county’s districts, meaning a higher share of students are missing school regularly than in some neighboring systems. A parent may want to ask the school what attendance supports are in place.
Per-pupil current spending is in the middle range, upper half, among the county’s districts. That suggests the district is not starved for resources relative to its neighbors, though the small enrollment means fixed costs are spread over a very small student body.
Housing in the area is affordable by national standards. Home values in the district’s coverage area, which includes the communities of Risco, Lilbourn, Malden, and Parma, are well below the national median. Values have been mostly flat or slightly declining in recent months, with some variation by zip code. The estimated monthly mortgage payment on a typical home in the district is low, and the price-to-income ratio is below the national figure, meaning homeownership is within reach for many local households.
The district’s chronic absenteeism rate sits below the midpoint among New Madrid County’s districts, meaning a higher share of students are chronically absent than in some neighboring systems. Given the small enrollment, even a handful of students with irregular attendance can move that rate noticeably. A parent may want to ask the school what it does to track and support attendance.
The district’s two schools, Risco Elementary and Risco High, cover the full PK-12 span. No information was available on course offerings, advanced coursework, career and technical education, or extracurricular programs. A parent looking for specific academic pathways or enrichment options would need to contact the district directly.
The district brief turned up no evidence of recent, parent-relevant changes such as boundary adjustments, program launches, or leadership turnover. The district appears to be operating in a steady state, with no major shifts publicly reported in the recent period.
Housing in the district’s coverage area is among the most affordable in the country. Home values are well below the national median, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment on a typical home is low. The communities that feed into the district include Risco, Lilbourn, Malden, and Parma, all small towns in the Missouri Bootheel. Home values vary by location, with Malden at the higher end and Risco at the lower end. The area has seen modest price declines in some zip codes and small gains in others, but overall the housing market is stable and accessible.
For a family considering this district, the main takeaway is that Risco R-II is a very small, rural system where every student is known. The academic picture is hard to read from the available data because most results are suppressed. The district’s overall proficiency index, based on the few reported rates, sits above the midpoint among the county’s three districts, but that is a thin signal. A parent who values a close-knit, small-school environment and is comfortable with limited public data on academic performance may find this a good fit. A parent who wants to see clear, comparable test results across grades and subjects will have a hard time getting that picture from the state’s published data.
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