The top reported proficiency rate is 43% in Math. The lowest is 29% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Latta
Latta is a small district in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, serving students from prekindergarten through twelfth grade across three schools. With an enrollment of just under nine hundred students, it is a modestly sized district where the elementary, middle, and high school are each separate buildings but part of a single system. The community context is not documented in the data we have, so we cannot describe the town itself; what is clear is that the district draws from an area where housing is more affordable than the national median, with typical home values well below the national benchmark and rents that are modest relative to incomes.
Academically, Latta performs above the middle of the pack among the seven districts in Pontotoc County. When state test results in math and English language arts across grades three through eight are combined into a single proficiency index, the district lands in the top quartile of the county. That is a meaningful strength in context, though the absolute proficiency rates are uneven. In elementary math, performance climbs from roughly three in ten students proficient in third grade to about half proficient by fifth and sixth grades, then drops back to around a third in seventh grade. In reading and writing, the pattern is lower across the board: about three in ten proficient in third grade, dipping to roughly one in four in fourth and fifth grades, then recovering to about three in ten in seventh and eighth grades. One sixth-grade ELA result was suppressed by the state, so that year is a gap. Science results for fifth and eighth grades were also suppressed, so the district’s science performance is not visible in this data. These suppressed outcomes typically occur when group sizes are small enough to risk identifying individual students, which is common in a district of this size. Parents may want to ask the school directly about its science and middle school reading results, since the public record is incomplete there.
The student body is racially and ethnically varied. Just under two in five students are white, roughly three in ten are American Indian or Alaska Native, about one in five identify as two or more races, and roughly one in ten are Hispanic. Black and Asian students each make up a very small share. The district does not report the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, nor does it provide counts of students receiving special education services or English learner supports, so the socioeconomic and learning-need profile is a blind spot. Chronic absenteeism, however, is low: the district’s rate falls in the top quartile among county districts for low absenteeism, meaning most students are attending regularly, a positive sign for instructional continuity.
The high school serves about half the district’s enrollment spread across grades nine through twelve, but no state assessment data for high school subjects was included in this record, and no graduation rate was available. Without that information, it is not possible to assess whether students are meeting academic benchmarks in high school or how many are completing on time. The data also does not describe course offerings such as Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, or career-technical programs, so a parent interested in those pathways would need to contact the school directly.
Financially, Latta’s per-pupil current spending is in the lower range among the county’s districts. That is a neutral fact, but it may translate into differences in resources, staffing, or program breadth compared to neighbors. The district’s overall academic standing in the county is stronger than its spending level might suggest, however, which could reflect efficient use of funds or other local factors.
In sum, Latta is a small, rural-adjacent district where elementary and middle school math performance is a relative bright spot, while literacy scores are more moderate. The student population is notably diverse, with a large Native American and multiracial share, and the community’s housing is affordable by national standards. The most significant gaps in the public record are the absence of high school academic outcomes, a graduation rate, and any data on special populations or program offerings. A family considering Latta would want to fill those gaps by speaking with the school directly.
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