Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal
records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our
editorial standards & corrections policy, the
methodology behind these numbers, or
report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Bedford, Pennsylvania - 3 schools
An equity score of 36/100 ranks Bedford Area Sd #458 of 648 districts in Pennsylvania (state average 49). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,525 per pupil, Bedford Area Sd ranks #523 of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending (Pennsylvania districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,706
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$15,525
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Bedford Area Sd operates 3 public schools serving 1,706 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Pennsylvania. 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 Bedford County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,525 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending. See how Pennsylvania compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 46.8% local, 41.3% state, and 11.9% 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 #458 of 648 in Pennsylvania against a state average of 49, notably less 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 (9 AP courses district-wide), a 475.2:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 21.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 93.8% White, 1.9% Hispanic or Latino, 0.9% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Bedford Ms, with a diversity index of 13.7/100.
Its largest campus is Bedford El Sch, enrolling 764 students (46% of the district's total enrollment).
Bedford El Sch accounts for 44.8% of all Bedford Area Sd student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Bedford Area Sd-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.
Bedford Area Sd student-counselor ratio is 475:1 — 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.
Bedford Area Sd chronic absenteeism rate is 21.1% — 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 Bedford Area Sd is typically wider than the Bedford Area Sd-aggregate figure suggests.
Bedford Area Sd has 3 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 1,706 students.
How much does Bedford Area Sd spend per student?
Bedford Area Sd spends $15,525 per student. The district has an equity score of 36/100, ranking #458 in Pennsylvania.
What is the demographic composition of Bedford Area Sd?
Bedford Area Sd students are 93.8% White, 1.9% Hispanic or Latino, 0.9% African American, 0.6% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Bedford Area Sd?
Bedford Area Sd has an equity score of 36/100, ranking #458 out of 648 districts in Pennsylvania.