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Alpena, Michigan - 9 schools
An equity score of 38/100 ranks Alpena Public Schools #525 of 707 districts in Michigan (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,020 per pupil, Alpena Public Schools ranks #549 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending (Michigan districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,672
Total Enrollment
9
Schools
$12,020
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Alpena Public Schools operates 9 public schools serving 3,672 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Michigan. The school portfolio breaks down into 6 elementary, 2 combined, 1 middle schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Alpena County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,020 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending. See how Michigan compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 27.2% local, 59.7% state, and 13.1% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 38/100, ranked #525 of 707 in Michigan against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 9 schools offering Advanced Placement (7 AP courses district-wide), a 906.1:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 30.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 91.1% White, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.5% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Besser Elementary School, with a diversity index of 21.1/100.
Its largest campus is Alpena High School, enrolling 1,091 students (31% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Aces Academy, at 57 students, a 19x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Alpena High School accounts for 29.7% of all Alpena Public Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Alpena Public Schools-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Alpena Public Schools school enrollment varies 19× across entities
Alpena Public Schools school enrollment ranges from 57 students (lowest) to 1,091 students (highest), a spread of 1,034 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Alpena Public Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 61.3% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Areas above 75% eligibility receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Alpena Public Schools student-counselor ratio is 906:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Values this far above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Alpena Public Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 30.9% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Alpena Public Schools has 9 schools, including 2 combined, 1 middle, 6 elementary. Total enrollment is 3,672 students.
How much does Alpena Public Schools spend per student?
Alpena Public Schools spends $12,020 per student. The district has an equity score of 38/100, ranking #525 in Michigan.
What is the demographic composition of Alpena Public Schools?
Alpena Public Schools students are 91.1% White, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.5% African American, 0.4% Asian, averaged across 9 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Alpena Public Schools?
Alpena Public Schools has an equity score of 38/100, ranking #525 out of 707 districts in Michigan.