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Bay St. Louis, Mississippi - 4 schools
An equity score of 65/100 ranks Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist #39 of 146 districts in Mississippi (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,358 per pupil, Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist ranks #20 of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending (Mississippi districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,672
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$14,358
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist operates 4 public schools serving 1,672 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Mississippi. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 high, 1 combined, 1 middle, 1 elementary 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 Hancock County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,358 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending. See how Mississippi compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 38.7% local, 33.2% state, and 28.1% 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 65/100, ranked #39 of 146 in Mississippi against a state average of 51, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 375.1:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 23.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 61.7% White, 23.2% African American, 7.2% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Waveland Elementary School, with a diversity index of 58.1/100.
Its largest campus is Bay High School, enrolling 491 students (30% of the district's total enrollment).
Bay High School accounts for 29.4% of all Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. 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.
Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 100.0% 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 a supermajority of the population — well past the 75% concentration-grant threshold that unlocks extra funding 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.
Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist student-counselor ratio is 375:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist chronic absenteeism rate is 23.8% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
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 Variation between sub-units within Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist is typically wider than the Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist-aggregate figure suggests.
Comparisons are relative to Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Mississippi
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist?
Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist has 4 schools, including 1 high, 1 combined, 1 middle, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 1,672 students.
How much does Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist spend per student?
Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist spends $14,358 per student. The district has an equity score of 65/100, ranking #39 in Mississippi.
What is the demographic composition of Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist?
Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist students are 61.7% White, 23.2% African American, 7.2% Hispanic or Latino, 0.5% Asian, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist?
Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist has an equity score of 65/100, ranking #39 out of 146 districts in Mississippi.