The top reported proficiency rate is 62% in English language arts. The lowest is 13% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Deport El
Deport Elementary serves a small student population in pre-K through fifth grade in a rural northeast Texas town, part of Prairiland Independent School District. The school sits in the compact historic center of Deport, a quiet, low-density community of older adults and owner-occupied homes, surrounded by farmland in southeast Lamar County. The everyday character is tight-knit and modest rather than commercial; housing values are modest, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting an economically constrained area with elevated poverty.
The school itself is quite small, with enrollment concentrated in kindergarten through fifth grade. Most students are white, with the remainder predominantly Hispanic or multiracial, and a very small number of Black students. The school does not report special-education enrollment or English-learner enrollment, so the scale and composition of those populations are not available.
State testing results from the most recent year show mixed academic performance. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from about one-half of third graders to two-thirds of fifth graders, with fourth-grade performance standing notably higher. Writing-adjacent skills appear strongest. In mathematics, the picture is weaker: about one-half of third graders meet proficiency, but that share drops to about two-fifths of fourth graders and further to about one-third of fifth graders, indicating a declining trajectory in math across the tested grades. Science proficiency in fifth grade is very low, with only a small share of students meeting the standard. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it above the midpoint among the four districts in Lamar County, though that reflects the fact that testing is concentrated in upper elementary grades and that county comparison groups include very small districts.
Teachers and staff numbers, attendance and discipline data, and course-access details were not available in the records. Graduation rate and chronic absenteeism are not applicable to an elementary school.
Prairiland ISD, the parent district, has undergone significant recent expansion in career and technical education and facilities. Voters approved a major bond in 2022 that funded a new career and technology center with hands-on programs in agriculture, veterinary technology, floral design, health science, culinary arts, and metal and wood fabrication, along with a multi-purpose indoor athletic facility. The district is the only one in Lamar County with such a facility, a lasting infrastructure upgrade. Solar farms built within the district added taxable value that allowed these improvements without raising the property tax rate. A second bond was called for May 2026 to fund additional facility renovation and student transportation, also without requiring a rate increase, pending voter approval.
The district spans four small communities: Pattonville (the administrative seat), Blossom, Deport, and Cunningham. Secondary schools are consolidated on a campus several miles from Deport in Pattonville, while Deport Elementary remains in town. Families in Deport have access to these new vocational and athletic facilities for students who advance to middle and high school, a meaningful draw for families considering the early-grade experience.
Deport's long-term context is demographic decline. The town peaked a century ago and has contracted steadily, with no major new housing development. The housing stock is older and modest in value. This sets the school in a place of modest economic vitality and stable but limited population. For families, Deport Elementary offers a traditional, small-school elementary experience in a rural setting, with solid support from a district that has recently invested in career pathways and facilities for older students, though math performance in the upper grades and science outcomes at fifth grade are areas a parent may want to look into further with the school.
See more original research from School Decision →