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Athens, Tennessee - 5 schools
An equity score of 24/100 ranks Athens #121 of 140 districts in Tennessee (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,659 per pupil, Athens ranks #72 of 141 Tennessee districts by per-pupil spending (Tennessee districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,802
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$10,659
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Athens operates 5 public schools serving 1,802 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Tennessee. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined, 2 elementary, 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 Mcminn County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,659 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 141 Tennessee districts by per-pupil spending. See how Tennessee compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 30.0% local, 42.4% state, and 27.6% 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 24/100, ranked #121 of 140 in Tennessee against a state average of 38, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 306.7:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 8.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 68.2% White, 12.3% Hispanic or Latino, 6.2% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Athens City Middle School, enrolling 519 students (28% of the district's total enrollment).
Athens City Middle School accounts for 28.2% of all Athens student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Athens-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: middle. 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.
Athens student-counselor ratio is 307:1 — near the typical range (US average ~408) — within the typical range for U.S. public districts
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 Variation between sub-units within Athens is typically wider than the Athens-aggregate figure suggests.
Athens chronic absenteeism rate is 8.7% — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 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.