Original Research by School Decision on Zalma R-v
Zalma R-V is a single public school district serving students from preschool through twelfth grade in Bollinger County, a rural corner of southeastern Missouri. The district operates two buildings: an elementary school and a high school. It is a small system; the enrollment across all grades is modest, with incoming cohorts that are similarly sized year to year. The student body is almost entirely white. Data on free or reduced-price meal eligibility was not reported, so the share of families experiencing economic need is not available from this source.
The district sits within a county that is sparsely populated. The housing market in the area reflects a rural context. Across the four ZIP codes that contribute to the district’s geography, home values in aggregate are below the state median. Values vary from the lower end to a bit above the middle of the national market, and have seen modest appreciation. The county’s unemployment rate and median household income align broadly with national conditions. Families relocating here from a metro area should expect a different pace and a limited selection of nearby services.
On the state's standardized assessments, nearly all results for the most recent testing year were suppressed. This is a data-reporting rule triggered when the group tested is very small, as is common in a district where single-grade cohorts are often below the threshold for public reporting. For mathematics and English language arts across grades three through eight, and for science in grades five and eight, the state did not release proficiency rates, participation rates, or average scale scores for the all-students group. For each grade and subject, the number of students tested was reported and was small and fairly consistent with that grade’s enrollment. The effect is that for a family trying to compare academic performance against a broader standard, there is no public state test data to draw on. A parent considering this district would need to ask the school directly for its internal assessment data or look for other indicators of student progress.
The district’s graduation rate was not reported here. The data source did not provide it. Because the district is small, the same suppression rules that apply to testing may also govern whether the state releases a graduation rate. That is a gap a family should confirm with the district.
Chronic absenteeism, a measure of how many students miss a substantial number of school days, stands well below the midpoint of the three districts in Bollinger County. That is a positive signal. It suggests students in Zalma generally attend school regularly.
On per-pupil spending, Zalma R-V is in the upper range among the three districts in the county. That is not a measure of efficiency or quality, but it indicates the district allocates a relatively high level of resources per student, likely a function of its small scale and fixed costs for facilities and staff.
No information was available on Advanced Placement, dual-credit, or career and technical education programs. Whether the high school offers a range of these pathways is something a family would need to investigate. The district brief turned up no recent change of note: no bond referendum, no curriculum overhaul, no boundary adjustment. The district appears stable in the sense that nothing major has recently shifted.
The community context is rural Bollinger County. Publicly reported descriptions characterize it as an area of small towns and farmland, with a low population density. For a family seeking a small-school environment in a quiet rural setting, Zalma R-V fits that description. For a family that relies on published test scores to gauge academic standing or that wants a wide menu of high school course options, this district offers little public evidence to evaluate. The suppressions are not a judgment on the school; they are a structural feature of how data is reported for very small student groups. The only way to get a clear picture of academic performance here is to ask the school directly.
See more original research from School Decision →