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Bear Lake, Michigan - 2 schools
An equity score of 36/100 ranks Bear Lake Schools #570 of 707 districts in Michigan (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,466 per pupil, Bear Lake Schools ranks #456 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending (Michigan districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
290
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$12,466
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Bear Lake Schools operates 2 public schools serving 290 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Michigan. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined 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 Manistee County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,466 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 38.7% local, 45.8% state, and 15.4% 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 36/100, ranked #570 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.
a 140:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 27.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 83.5% White, 13.3% Hispanic or Latino, 0.4% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Bear Lake Elementary School, enrolling 147 students (53% of the district's total enrollment).
Bear Lake Elementary School accounts for 50.7% of all Bear Lake Schools student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Bear Lake Schools a distant remainder — means Bear Lake 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.
Bear Lake Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 64.5% 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.
Bear Lake Schools student-counselor ratio is 140:1 — 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.
Bear Lake Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 27.7% — 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 Bear Lake Schools is typically wider than the Bear Lake Schools-aggregate figure suggests.
Bear Lake Schools has 2 schools, including 2 combined. Total enrollment is 290 students.
How much does Bear Lake Schools spend per student?
Bear Lake Schools spends $12,466 per student. The district has an equity score of 36/100, ranking #570 in Michigan.
What is the demographic composition of Bear Lake Schools?
Bear Lake Schools students are 83.5% White, 13.3% Hispanic or Latino, 0.4% African American, averaged across 2 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Bear Lake Schools?
Bear Lake Schools has an equity score of 36/100, ranking #570 out of 707 districts in Michigan.