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Bemidji, Minnesota - 14 schools
An equity score of 61/100 ranks Bemidji Public School District #116 of 410 districts in Minnesota (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,614 per pupil, Bemidji Public School District ranks #208 of 504 Minnesota districts by per-pupil spending (Minnesota districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,836
Total Enrollment
14
Schools
$14,614
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Bemidji Public School District operates 14 public schools serving 4,836 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Minnesota. The school portfolio breaks down into 10 combined, 2 high, 1 middle, 1 elementary schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Beltrami County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,614 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 504 Minnesota districts by per-pupil spending. See how Minnesota compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 18.6% local, 67.6% state, and 13.8% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 61/100, ranked #116 of 410 in Minnesota against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 14 schools offering Advanced Placement (7 AP courses district-wide), a 554.3:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 34.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 55.2% White, 1.9% Hispanic or Latino, 1.5% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is First City School, with a diversity index of 63.9/100.
Its largest campus is Bemidji Senior High, enrolling 1,537 students (32% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Oshki Manidoo Center, at 4 students, a 384x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Bemidji Senior High accounts for 31.8% of all Bemidji Public School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Bemidji Public School District-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.
Bemidji Public School District school enrollment varies 384× across entities
Bemidji Public School District school enrollment ranges from 4 students (lowest) to 1,537 students (highest), a spread of 1,533 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Bemidji Public School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 51.6% 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). Areas above 75% eligibility receive concentration grants 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.
Bemidji Public School District student-counselor ratio is 554:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Bemidji Public School District chronic absenteeism rate is 34.6% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Comparisons are relative to Bemidji Public School District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Minnesota
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Bemidji Public School District?
Bemidji Public School District has 14 schools, including 2 high, 1 middle, 1 elementary, 10 combined. Total enrollment is 4,836 students.
How much does Bemidji Public School District spend per student?
Bemidji Public School District spends $14,614 per student. The district has an equity score of 61/100, ranking #116 in Minnesota.
What is the demographic composition of Bemidji Public School District?
Bemidji Public School District students are 55.2% White, 1.9% Hispanic or Latino, 1.5% African American, 0.4% Asian, averaged across 14 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Bemidji Public School District?
Bemidji Public School District has an equity score of 61/100, ranking #116 out of 410 districts in Minnesota.