Union County school district performances and demographics, at a glance 

UNION COUNTY – On November 20th, 2025, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) released the “At-A-Glance School and District Profiles” for the 2024-25 school year and updated the Oregon Online Report Card to reflect current data. These Profiles provide a snapshot of all Oregon schools and school districts compared to state averages in a number of key categories (graduation rate, attendance, 8th grade math, etc.) as well as student and staff demographics, including in Eastern Oregon.

This first examination of the At-A-Glance data for local Eastern Oregon School Districts will focus on Union County districts, which saw a mix of notable increases and decreases in select categories.

To preface the data, the six categories reported by the ODE are as follows:

• Regular Attenders: “Students who attended more than 90% of their enrolled school days.”
• Grade 3 English Language Arts: “Students meeting state grade-level expectations.”
• Grade 8 Mathematics: “Students meeting state grade-level expectations.”
• On Track to Graduate: “Students earning one-quarter of graduation credits in their 9th grade year.”
• On Time to Graduate: “Students earning a diploma within four years. Cohort includes students who were first-time ninth graders in 2020-21 graduating in 2023-24.”
• Five-Year Completion: “Students earning a high school diploma or GED within five years. Cohort Includes students who were first- time ninth graders in 2019-20 finishing in 2023-24.”

As noted, the “On Time to Graduate” and “Five-Year Completion” categories are for 2023-2024 graduate rates, while all other categories reflect 2024-2025 school year data. At-A-Glance data from all Union County school districts, compared to the state average for the respective year, is as follows (student enrolment for each district also included for reference):

Student Enrolment (2024-2025 School Year)

• Imbler: 313
• Union: 365
• Cove: 287
• North Powder: 251
• Elgin: 354
• La Grande: 1,980
• Union County Total: 3,550

Regular Attenders

• State Average: 67%
• Imbler:
  • % of Students: 84%
  • Change from previous school year: 2% decrease
• Union:
  • % of Students: 64%
  • Change from previous school year: 4% increase
• Cove:
  • % of Students: 80%
  • Change from previous school year: 1% increase
• North Powder:
  • % of Students: 75%
  • Change from previous school year: 10% Decrease
• Elgin:
  • % of Students: 73%
  • Change from previous school year: 3% Increase
• La Grande:
  • % of Students: 69%
  • Change from previous school year: 3% Increase
• : 

Grade 3 English Language Arts

• State Average: 41%
• Imbler:
  • % of Students: 67% 
  • Change from previous school year: 26% Increase
• Union:
  • % of Students: 32%
  • Change from previous school year: 2% Increase
• Cove:
  • % of Students: 53%
  • Change from previous school year: 2% Decrease
• North Powder: 
  • % of Students: 39%
  • Change from previous school year: 18% Decrease
• Elgin:
  • % of Students: 44%
  • Change from previous school year: 12% Increase
• La Grande:
  • % of Students: 41% 
  • Change from previous school year: 2% Increase

Grade 8 Mathematics

• State Average: 29%
• Imbler:
  • % of Students: 52%
  • Change from previous school year:8% Increase
• Union:
  • % of Students: 29%
  • Change from previous school year: 14% Increase
• Cove:
  • % of Students: 30%
  • Change from previous school year: 14% Decrease
• North Powder:
  • % of Students: 47%
  • Change from previous school year: 24% Increase
• Elgin:
  • % of Students: <5% 
  • Change from previous school year: No Change
• La Grande:
  • % of Students: 23%
  • Change from previous school year: 6% Increase

On-Track to Graduate

• State Average: 87%
• Imbler:
  • % of Students: >95%
  • Change from previous school year: No change
• Union:
  • % of Students: >95%
  • Change from previous school year: >9% Increase
• Cove:
  • % of Students: >95%
  • Change from previous school year: No change
• North Powder:
  • % of Students: >95%
  • Change from previous school year: No change
• Elgin:
  • % of Students: 88% 
  • Change from previous school year: >7% Decrease
• La Grande:
  • % of Students: 83%
  • Change from previous school year: 6% Increase

On-Time Graduation

State Average: 82%

• Imbler:
  • % of Students: 100%
  • Change from previous school year: No change
• Union:
  • % of Students: 83%
  • Change from previous school year: 18% Increase
• Cove:
  • % of Students: 55%
  • Change from previous school year: 37% Decrease
• North Powder:
  • % of Students: 100%
  • Change from previous school year: No Change
• Elgin:
  • % of Students: 74%
  • Change from previous school year: 7% Increase
• La Grande:
  • % of Students: 89%
  • Change from previous school year: 4% Increase

Five Year Completion

• State Average: 87%
• Imbler:
  • % of Students: 100%
  • Change from previous school year: No Change
• Union:
  • % of Students: 81%
  • Change from previous school year: 2% Decrease
• Cove:
  • % of Students: 92%
  • Change from previous school year: 7% Increase
• North Powder:
  • % of Students: 100%
  • Change from previous school year: 5% Increase
• Elgin:
  • % of Students: 70%
  • Change from previous school year: 14%
• La Grande:
  • % of Students: 91%
  • Change from previous school year: 12% Increase

Alongside attendance, academic, and graduation benchmarks, the reports also provide a snapshot of student and staff demographics. Due to the relatively small number of total students in Eastern Oregon’s smaller schools, data is not available in all demographic categories compared to academic ones, but information was provided on the five following major categories for all districts:

• Ever English Learners (I.E. students ever at one point classified as English learners)
• Students with disabilities
• Students experiencing poverty
• Languages spoken
• Mobile students

For clarification, the Oregon Department of Education defines “Mobile Students” under the following criteria per a previous research brief on students experiencing foster placement:

• “First enrollment of the year occurred after the first school day in October
• Last enrollment ended before the first school day in May and the student did not graduate and was not deceased
• The student had an enrollment gap of at least ten days between two records for the same school during which they were not enrolled in any public Oregon K-12 institution and did not transfer to a private or out-of-state school
• The student had enrollments at more than one attending school”

Percentages for the additional demographic categories are as follows:

Ever English Learners

• Imbler: <10 students or data unavailable
• Union: <10 students or data unavailable
• Cove: <10 students or data unavailable
• North Powder: 10%
• Elgin: <10 students or data unavailable
• La Grande: 6%

Students with Disabilities

• Imbler: 11%
• Union: 13%
• Cove: 17%
• North Powder: 20%
• Elgin: 19%
• La Grande: 21%

Mobile Students

• Imbler: <5%
• Union: 12%
• Cove: 8%
• North Powder: 10%
• Elgin: 12%
• La Grande: 13%

Students Experiencing Poverty

• Imbler: 16%
• Union: 35%
• Cove: 15%
• North Powder: 31%
• Elgin: 41%
• La Grande: 40%

Languages Spoken

• Imbler: 4
• Union: 3
• Cove: 4
• North Powder: 7
• Elgin: 7
• La Grande: 24

As a reminder, the data discussed refers to the 2024-2025 school year and, in some specific categories, the 2023-2024 school year. Current data on the 2025-2026 school year has NOT yet been compiled for At-A-Glance reports. The full At-A-Glance reports/school district profiles, along with district online report cards and other Oregon School district data, are available at: https://www.oregon.gov/ode/schools-and-districts/reportcards/Pages/default.aspx

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Elkhorn Media Group