The top reported proficiency rate is 19% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Elmore City-pernell
Elmore City-Pernell is a small, rural Oklahoma school district serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As a single unified district, it houses its elementary, junior high, and high school programs across three buildings, all feeding from the same small pool of local families. The district sits within Garvin County, an area of modest communities and agricultural land in the southern part of the state.
The student body draws heavily from the surrounding area and is predominantly white, with a notable presence of American Indian or Alaska Native students and a smaller share of students who identify with two or more races. Hispanic and Black students each make up a very small percentage of the enrollment. The total enrollment is small, and the district does not report the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, nor does it provide data on the number of students with disabilities or English learners. A parent who wants a fuller picture of the economic composition or special education resources would need to ask the district directly.
State assessment results for the 2024-25 school year are uneven and largely modest. The state changed its cut scores that year, which makes direct comparison to prior years unreliable. In elementary grades, third-grade English language arts proficiency was reported at a level that falls below what many families would consider strong, while fourth- and fifth-grade results on the same subject were suppressed for data privacy reasons, as were the third- and fourth-grade math results. For fifth through eighth grades, where numbers are available, proficiency rates in both math and reading cluster in the mid-teens to low twenties. Science results in fifth grade were also low. The district's overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, sits below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Garvin County. Chronic absenteeism, reported at a rate that also falls below the county midpoint, is something a parent may want to explore further with the school to understand the context behind it.
Because this district serves high school grades, a four-year graduation rate would ordinarily be expected, but the reported data is missing, and no rate is included in the comparisons. That gap may reflect state reporting timing or another data issue, and it is not possible to draw conclusions from its absence.
On the financial side, the district's per-pupil current spending falls in the upper half of the middle range among Garvin County's districts, which are seven in total. That suggests funding is roughly in line with what similar-sized rural districts in the area receive.
Housing in the district's coverage area is affordable relative to national benchmarks. The weighted home value across the multiple zip codes that feed into the district is below the state average and well below the national figure. Home values vary noticeably by community, with the lowest values in the Maysville area and the highest in the Foster area, but overall the market is accessible. The district's area experienced modest home value growth over the most recent year measured, roughly in line with statewide trends. Mortgage rates at the time of this report were near historic norms for the current cycle, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment on a typical home in the district would be in line with what a household earning the national median income could manage.
The district's leadership did not surface any recent parent-relevant changes in the publicly available record. No new bond measures, boundary adjustments, program launches, or administrative turnover were found. That does not mean nothing is happening, but a family moving into the area should plan to speak with the school directly about current operations and any local initiatives.
For families considering this district, the main takeaway is that it is a small, rural system with modest academic outcomes on state measures and a generally affordable housing market. The composition of the student body and the district's size will shape the peer environment, and the limited publicly available data on special populations and graduation rates means a prospective parent will need to gather information directly from the schools to fill in key parts of the picture.
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