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Metter, Georgia - 4 schools
An equity score of 37/100 ranks Candler County #151 of 216 districts in Georgia (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,694 per pupil, Candler County ranks #187 of 219 Georgia districts by per-pupil spending (Georgia districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,201
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$11,694
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Candler County operates 4 public schools serving 2,201 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Georgia. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 high, 1 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 Candler County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,694 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 219 Georgia districts by per-pupil spending. See how Georgia compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 25.6% local, 49.0% state, and 25.4% 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 37/100, ranked #151 of 216 in Georgia against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 2 of 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (5 AP courses district-wide), a 390.9:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 16.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 45.9% White, 26.6% African American, 22.6% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Metter Elementary School, with a diversity index of 67.1/100.
Its largest campus is Metter Elementary School, enrolling 994 students (46% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Metter College and Career Academy, at 179 students, a 6x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Metter Elementary School accounts for 45.2% of all Candler County student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Candler County a distant remainder — means Candler County-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.
Candler County school enrollment varies 5.6× across entities
Candler County school enrollment ranges from 179 students (lowest) to 994 students (highest), a spread of 815 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.
Candler County has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 84.2% 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 — including this one — 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.
Candler County student-counselor ratio is 391:1 — 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.
Candler County chronic absenteeism rate is 16.9% — 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 Candler County is typically wider than the Candler County-aggregate figure suggests.
Candler County has 4 schools, including 1 combined, 1 middle, 2 high. Total enrollment is 2,201 students.
How much does Candler County spend per student?
Candler County spends $11,694 per student. The district has an equity score of 37/100, ranking #151 in Georgia.
What is the demographic composition of Candler County?
Candler County students are 45.9% White, 26.6% African American, 22.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.4% Asian, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Candler County?
Candler County has an equity score of 37/100, ranking #151 out of 216 districts in Georgia.