The top reported proficiency rate is 81% in Science. The lowest is 68% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Bunsold Middle School
Bunsold Middle School serves grades seven and eight in Marysville, a county seat northwest of Columbus in Union County that is experiencing rapid suburban growth. The school is part of the Marysville Exempted Village district, which recently passed a property tax levy after two previous rejections and is adding students annually as the area builds new housing.
Academically, Bunsold's proficiency results are solid across its tested subjects. In English language arts, about four-fifths of students reached proficiency, with science showing similarly strong results at about the same rate. Math proficiency is lower, at roughly two-thirds, creating the softest area of performance on the school's academic profile. Participation rates in all three subjects are high, suggesting the school administered its state assessments to nearly all enrolled students. When averaged across subjects, the school's overall proficiency sits below the midpoint relative to other districts in Union County, meaning there are districts in the county with stronger measured results, though the range among the county's districts is not large.
The school's enrollment is close to nine-hundred students split between seventh and eighth grade. About a quarter of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Racially and ethnically, the school is predominantly white, with Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students each making up smaller shares. No data was available on the school's enrollment of students with IEPs or English learners.
The building sits on State Route 4 on the outskirts of Marysville proper, on the campus-style footprint where schools are separated from the historic downtown. Marysville itself is a mixed small-town and suburban place. Its downtown and Uptown district, centered on Main Street and the Union County Courthouse, has seen recent reinvestment—new City Hall, Parks, and an Uptown Theatre among civic anchors, plus locally-owned shops, cafés, and craft breweries. Outside that core, the city is car-oriented; transit is limited, with no local fixed-route bus service, though GoBus offers intercity routes to Columbus. Major employers include Honda's manufacturing and R&D operations, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, and Memorial Hospital. Union County overall is cited as one of Ohio's fastest-growing counties, and Marysville is absorbing that growth with new apartment complexes, major mixed-use redevelopment projects in the works, and a comprehensive plan update underway to manage the pace and character of change.
The district itself has been through fiscal strain. After voters rejected a levy twice, in 2022 and 2024, the district cut nearly twenty-five teachers and eliminated school resource officers from all buildings. In May 2025 voters approved a property tax levy that will bring in new operating revenue for the first time in about a decade, but directly increases property taxes on homeowners. As part of the levy passage, the district is restoring four school resource officers district-wide for the 2025-26 school year, down from the eight it had before. The district also raised pay-to-participate fees for extracurricular activities from a lower to a higher rate with no cap after the 2024 failure, a change that persists even with the levy passing. For families considering the area, this tax increase is a direct cost of living change in a district that is managing rapid enrollment growth and rebuilding its budget.
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