Original Research by School Decision on Callaway Public Schools
Callaway Public Schools is a small district serving a rural community in central Nebraska. It runs two schools—an elementary building and a high school—covering pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade under one roof or campus arrangement. The district sits entirely within Custer County and draws its student body from the surrounding area, including the village of Callaway itself.
The student population is small and overwhelmingly white, with a modest share of Hispanic students and very small numbers of Black and multiracial students. The district does not report the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, so it is not possible to gauge economic need from that metric directly. Families should know that this kind of data gap often means the number is not publicly available rather than a sign of anything unusual, but it does leave a question mark about the level of poverty the district serves.
State assessment results for Callaway Public Schools are almost entirely suppressed across tested grades in math, English language arts, and science. Suppression happens when the number of test-takers is too small to report publicly without risking student identification. Because the district is very small, this is expected. Only one metric—a grade-level math count—showed a non-suppressed proficient count, but the overall proficiency rate was still withheld. As a result, there is no reliable way to compare the district’s academic performance to state averages or to other districts in Custer County. A parent looking for test-score data will find essentially nothing to evaluate here, and should instead direct specific questions to the district office about how its students perform on state measures.
The district does have usable data on attendance and spending. Chronic absenteeism runs high, placing Callaway in the bottom quarter among Custer County’s districts. That means a larger share of students miss substantial school time compared with most nearby districts, a pattern worth exploring with the school to understand underlying causes. Per-pupil current spending, on the other hand, sits in the upper range for the county, and given the small enrollment the district’s budget per student is relatively generous compared to its peers.
Several recent fiscal and enrollment trends are publicly reported by the district itself and are directly relevant to families. The property tax levy for schools has declined over the past several years because the district’s tax request has dropped while property values have risen; the result is a lower effective tax rate for residents. At the same time, state aid has increased substantially in recent years, giving the district more budget capacity to maintain staffing and programs despite a shrinking student base. Enrollment has declined over the last several years, and the district reports that more students leave to attend schools elsewhere than come in from outside the district—a net loss of about nineteen students. For a district this small, that trend has implications for class sizes, course offerings, and the long-term viability of some programs.
Graduation rate data was not available for this district, so it is unknown how many students finish high school on time. Data on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and student-to-teacher ratios were also absent, leaving several important dimensions of the school experience unmeasured here.
Overall, Callaway Public Schools presents as a very rural, very small district where state test results are too sparse to characterize, attendance is a concern relative to nearby districts, and the budget picture has recently improved even as enrollment has shrunk. Families considering this district will want to talk directly with the administration about classroom conditions, the range of academic offerings at the high school, and how the out-migration of students affects day-to-day school life.
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