The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in English language arts. The lowest is 36% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Rutland School District 39-4
Rutland School District 39-4 is a former South Dakota district that no longer operates on its own. In 2023, it consolidated with Oldham-Ramona School District 39-5 to form the newly structured Oldham-Ramona-Rutland School District 39-6, which now spans Lake, Kingsbury, Miner, and Moody counties. The schools that once made up this district, Rutland Elementary, Rutland High School, Rutland Jr. High, and Camridge Colony School, are all listed as closed in the records available here. What follows is a picture of the district as it stood in its final year of independent operation, based largely on state assessment results from that last year.
The academic data comes from the 2022-23 school year and covers grades three through eight. In English language arts, a majority of tested students reached proficiency, which is a reasonably strong result for a small rural district. Math proficiency landed below that, with roughly a third of students meeting the bar. Science results were similar to math, though based on a much smaller number of tested students, which means those results carry less statistical weight. Participation was full across all three subjects, so the results reflect the full tested population rather than a partial snapshot. No average scale scores were reported, and no multi-year trend data was available, so there is no way here to judge whether performance was rising or falling heading into consolidation.
Beyond the assessment results, almost everything else is missing. Enrollment figures were not available. The demographic breakdown of the student body, including race and ethnicity, English learner status, and special education populations, was not reported in the data provided. Free and reduced-price lunch counts, which would indicate the economic background of families served, were also absent. No staffing, attendance, or course access information was provided. No graduation rate appears, though that may reflect the fact that the district's high school is now closed and the data captures only the elementary and middle grade testing window. No civil rights or discipline data was available either.
There is no locale brief for the towns this district served, so there is little here to describe the housing market, commute patterns, or community character of the Rutland area. No community or economic context was included. A parent looking at Rutland today would need to look instead at the successor district, Oldham-Ramona-Rutland School District 39-6, for current operations and offerings.
The district brief does add an important piece of context that a parent or resident should know. The 2023 consolidation was not the end of the story. A 2025 referendum on whether to dissolve the newly merged district entirely was defeated by a razor-thin margin after a recount, with the vote to retain the district winning by just a handful of ballots. Publicly reported coverage describes deep divisions in the community over the district's future. The district remains intact for now, but the closeness of that vote signals real uncertainty about long-term governance and school siting decisions across the four counties involved.
For a family trying to understand what Rutland School District 39-4 was, the honest summary is that it was a very small rural South Dakota district whose academic results in its final year were mixed: stronger in reading than in math or science, with full participation but limited data overall. It is now part of a larger consolidated district whose own future has been contested. Anyone considering this area today should look directly at Oldham-Ramona-Rutland School District 39-6 for current school sites, programs, and enrollment information, since the Rutland 39-4 entity exists only in historical records.
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