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Ashley, Michigan - 3 schools
An equity score of 69/100 ranks Ashley Community Schools #94 of 707 districts in Michigan (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,368 per pupil, Ashley Community Schools ranks #304 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending (Michigan districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
238
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$13,368
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Ashley Community Schools operates 3 public schools serving 238 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Michigan. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 1 elementary, 1 high 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 Gratiot County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,368 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending. See how Michigan compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 26.9% local, 58.1% state, and 15.0% 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 69/100, ranked #94 of 707 in Michigan against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (1 AP courses district-wide), a 48:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 32.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 85.8% White, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Ashley Middle School, with a diversity index of 29.5/100.
Its largest campus is Ashley Elementary School, enrolling 60 students (37% of the district's total enrollment).
Ashley Elementary School accounts for 25.2% of all Ashley Community Schools student enrollment
That concentration means Ashley Community 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.
Ashley Community Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 64.7% 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). Eligibility here is approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. 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.
Ashley Community Schools student-counselor ratio is 48:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Ashley Community Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 32.0% — 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.
Ashley Community Schools has 3 schools, including 1 combined, 1 elementary, 1 high. Total enrollment is 238 students.
How much does Ashley Community Schools spend per student?
Ashley Community Schools spends $13,368 per student. The district has an equity score of 69/100, ranking #94 in Michigan.
What is the demographic composition of Ashley Community Schools?
Ashley Community Schools students are 85.8% White, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% African American, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Ashley Community Schools?
Ashley Community Schools has an equity score of 69/100, ranking #94 out of 707 districts in Michigan.