High Schools in Blackfoot District

The Blackfoot District in Idaho is home to two high schools: Blackfoot High School and Independence Alternative High School. While Blackfoot High School is the larger and higher-performing of the two, with a four-year graduation rate of 88.5% and strong academic proficiency, Independence Alternative High School struggles academically and has a much lower graduation rate of 50.6%.

Blackfoot District schools exhibit significant demographic differences, with Independence Alternative High School serving a more diverse student population that is 56.8% non-White, compared to 32.97% at Blackfoot High School. This disparity in student demographics is accompanied by a stark performance gap, as Blackfoot High School outperforms the district and state averages in ISAT/Math, ISAT/Science, and ISAT/English Language Arts, while Independence Alternative lags behind.

The data also reveals that Independence Alternative High School spends more per student ($12,278) than Blackfoot High School ($8,165), suggesting that the district is allocating additional resources to address the challenges faced by the lower-performing school. However, this increased funding has not translated into improved academic outcomes, raising questions about equity and access to quality education within the Blackfoot District. Further investigation may be necessary to understand the underlying factors contributing to the performance disparities between these two high schools.