Summary:
The city of Hearne, Texas is home to two schools that serve students from elementary through high school: Hearne Elementary and Hearne JH/High School. Unfortunately, both schools are struggling, with low test scores, high poverty rates, and poor rankings compared to other schools in the state of Texas.
Hearne Elementary and Hearne JH/High School have significantly lower proficiency rates on STAAR tests across all grade levels and subjects compared to the state averages. For example, in 2023-2024, only 25.64% of 3rd graders at Hearne Elementary were proficient in reading, compared to the state average of 48.85%. Both schools also have extremely high rates of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, at over 93%, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage among the student populations. As a result, Hearne Independent School District (ISD) schools are ranked very low compared to other schools in Texas, with Hearne Elementary in the bottom 2% of elementary schools and Hearne JH/High School in the bottom 7% of high schools.
Despite the additional funding these schools receive, with Hearne Elementary spending $12,488 per student and Hearne JH/High School spending $19,583 per student, the low performance of the schools suggests the additional resources are not translating into improved outcomes. The diversity of the student populations, with significant percentages of African American and Hispanic students, is not reflected in the schools' performance, indicating systemic challenges that need to be addressed. While Hearne JH/High School has a relatively high 4-year graduation rate of 94%, the school also has a 1.9% dropout rate, which is still concerning and indicates that some students are not successfully completing their education.
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