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Belt, Montana - 3 schools
An equity score of 25/100 ranks Belt Elem #115 of 141 districts in Montana (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,473 per pupil, Belt Elem ranks #383 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending (Montana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
271
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$9,473
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Belt Elem operates 3 public schools serving 271 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Montana. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined, 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 Cascade County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,473 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 40 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending. See how Montana compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 37.5% local, 35.1% state, and 27.3% 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 25/100, ranked #115 of 141 in Montana against a state average of 38, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 157.7:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 8.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 94.9% White, 1.4% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Belt 7-8, with a diversity index of 17.1/100.
Its largest campus is Belt School, enrolling 178 students (69% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Pleasant Valley School, at 24 students, a 7x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Belt School accounts for 65.7% of all Belt Elem student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Belt Elem a distant remainder — means Belt Elem-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.
Belt Elem school enrollment varies 7.4× across entities
Belt Elem school enrollment ranges from 24 students (lowest) to 178 students (highest), a spread of 154 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Belt Elem student-counselor ratio is 158:1 — 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.
Belt Elem chronic absenteeism rate is 8.5% — 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.
Belt Elem has 3 schools, including 2 combined, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 271 students.
How much does Belt Elem spend per student?
Belt Elem spends $9,473 per student. The district has an equity score of 25/100, ranking #115 in Montana.
What is the demographic composition of Belt Elem?
Belt Elem students are 94.9% White, 1.4% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% Asian, 0.4% African American, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Belt Elem?
Belt Elem has an equity score of 25/100, ranking #115 out of 141 districts in Montana.