Mayer Unified School District

The Mayer Unified School District in Arizona operates two schools: Mayer Elementary School, serving grades PK-8, and Mayer High School, serving grades 9-12. Both schools face significant academic challenges, with consistently low performance compared to state averages, particularly in English Language Arts and Mathematics.

Mayer Elementary School has a relatively large student enrollment of 373 and a diverse student population, but it struggles academically, ranking in the bottom half of Arizona elementary schools. The school has a high rate of free and reduced lunch eligibility at 92.76%, indicating a high-poverty student population, and receives lower per-student spending of $7,361 compared to the high school. In contrast, Mayer High School has a smaller enrollment of 200 students and a slightly less diverse population, but its academic performance has been inconsistent, with the school ranking in the bottom half of Arizona high schools in 2022-2023 but in the middle third in 2021-2022.

Both schools face significant socioeconomic challenges, with high rates of free and reduced lunch eligibility, suggesting that the Mayer Unified School District serves a predominantly low-income student population. The funding discrepancy, with Mayer High School receiving $2,200 more per-student than Mayer Elementary School, may be an area for further investigation. Addressing the academic underperformance, socioeconomic disparities, and funding discrepancies will be crucial for improving student outcomes in the district.