Original Research by School Decision on Bynum School
Bynum School is a rural public school serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in the unincorporated community of Bynum, Montana, a place of very few residents scattered along U.S. Highway 89 with ranch and farmland surrounding a small cluster of homes, a general store, a post office, a tavern, and the Montana Dinosaur Center. The school sits on Central Avenue in this same small center. It is the only school in the Bynum Elementary School District, and its enrollment is very small.
State testing data for Bynum School was suppressed for the most recent school year. Fewer than a handful of students were tested in math and reading, and a single student was tested in science. With a student body that small, the state withholds reported proficiency rates to protect individual privacy. There is no multi-year academic trend data and no graduation rate to report, as the school does not serve high school grades. A parent looking for a statistical read on academic performance will not find one here. The comparison fact-set that would position this school relative to other districts in Teton County notes that the proficiency index is missing; there is no basis for comparison.
The student population reflects the surrounding community. The school enrolled a very small total number of students. A substantial share of those students are American Indian or Alaska Native, and the remainder are white. The school serves a grade span that includes elementary and middle school years but ends at eighth grade; families who want a high school education for their child after that point must look elsewhere, likely to a neighboring district such as Choteau.
The most significant fact about Bynum School is not on the report card. Publicly reported decisions from the district school board show that the board voted to close the school ahead of the next school year, when only a very small number of students were projected to enroll. This makes Bynum School a school that will no longer exist as a public option for the coming year. For any family currently in or considering Bynum, this closure eliminates the only public school in the community and pushes the question of where children will attend school to other districts.
The community itself is not growing. Its population has been small and has declined. Housing values and rents were not available in the data for this profile. There are no major employers beyond the school, the dinosaur center, and area ranching. Walkability is minimal; homes and the few community buildings line the highway. The school sits in the same small cluster as the post office and store.
For anyone looking at Bynum School as a possible fit, the academic picture is essentially unreadable from the available data due to the tiny enrollment, and the district's own board action has made the school unavailable for the upcoming year. The data provides no basis to assess program offerings, staffing, discipline, or attendance; those fields were absent from the record. The single most concrete fact for a family to act on is that this public school is closing.
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