North Clay CUSD 25

The North Clay CUSD 25 district in Illinois consists of two schools: North Clay Elementary/Junior High School serving grades PK-8 and North Clay Community High School serving grades 9-12. Both schools have consistently ranked in the bottom half of Illinois schools over the past 3 years, with 2-star ratings from SchoolDigger.

North Clay Elementary/Junior High School has an enrollment of 392 students and struggles with low proficiency rates in English Language Arts (23.9%) and Mathematics (14.9%) compared to state averages, though it performs better in 3rd grade. The school also has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 15.6% and nearly 50% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. In contrast, North Clay Community High School has an enrollment of 178 students and very low proficiency rates in SAT Math (11.1%) and SAT ELA (13.3%), but performs better in science with 55.6% proficient on the ISA assessment. The high school also has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 23.8% and an 8.6% dropout rate.

Despite the low academic performance, both schools appear to be spending a relatively high amount per student ($12,500-$13,000) and maintaining reasonable student-teacher ratios. This suggests that the issue may not be solely about resource allocation, but rather how those resources are being utilized to support student learning and address the significant challenges these schools face, such as high rates of chronic absenteeism and a large population of economically disadvantaged students.