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Ashdown, Arkansas - 3 schools
An equity score of 46/100 ranks Ashdown School District #148 of 250 districts in Arkansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,404 per pupil, Ashdown School District ranks #92 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending (Arkansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,308
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$12,404
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Ashdown School District operates 3 public schools serving 1,308 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arkansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Little River County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,404 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arkansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 48.0% local, 32.2% state, and 19.8% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 46/100, ranked #148 of 250 in Arkansas against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (4 AP courses district-wide), a 225.3:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 37.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 61.6% White, 24.5% African American, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Ashdown Elementary School, with a diversity index of 57.9/100.
Its largest campus is Ashdown Elementary School, enrolling 621 students (48% of the district's total enrollment).
Ashdown Elementary School accounts for 47.5% of all Ashdown School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Ashdown School District a distant remainder — means Ashdown School District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Ashdown School District school enrollment varies 2.2× across entities
Ashdown School District school enrollment ranges from 278 students (lowest) to 621 students (highest), a spread of 343 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Ashdown School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 57.1% 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.
Ashdown School District student-counselor ratio is 225:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Ashdown School District chronic absenteeism rate is 37.1% — 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.
Ashdown School District has 3 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 1,308 students.
How much does Ashdown School District spend per student?
Ashdown School District spends $12,404 per student. The district has an equity score of 46/100, ranking #148 in Arkansas.
What is the demographic composition of Ashdown School District?
Ashdown School District students are 61.6% White, 24.5% African American, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.4% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Ashdown School District?
Ashdown School District has an equity score of 46/100, ranking #148 out of 250 districts in Arkansas.