LEE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Lee County School District serves 6,303 students across 15 schools in a rural Mississippi county, experiencing modest enrollment growth of 0.8% in the prior year. The district operates 6 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, and 4 high schools with 507 teachers, resulting in a student-teacher ratio of 12.4:1.

Academically, the district's math proficiency rate of 50.5% slightly exceeds Mississippi's state average of 50.1%, while reading proficiency of 46.2% outperforms the state average of 43.0%. However, the graduation rate of 83.2% falls 4.8 percentage points below the state average of 88.0%. Chronic absenteeism stands at 34.4%, a notable concern affecting academic engagement.

Demographically, 54.9% of students qualify as economically disadvantaged, reflecting the rural nature of the county and likely contributing to attendance challenges. Financially, the district operates with a total budget of $72.6 million and per-pupil spending of $11,520, approximately $1,290 below the state average of $12,810. Revenue sources are distributed across federal funding (15.7%), state funding (51.0%), and local funding (33.4%), indicating moderate reliance on local resources typical of rural districts.

The district's resource constraints and demographic profile present both academic performance variation and persistent challenges in student engagement and graduation outcomes relative to state benchmarks.