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Dover, Delaware - 13 schools
An equity score of 61/100 ranks Capital School District #2 of 40 districts in Delaware (state average 39). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $24,337 per pupil, Capital School District ranks #5 of 42 Delaware districts by per-pupil spending (Delaware districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
6,396
Total Enrollment
13
Schools
$24,337
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Capital School District operates 13 public schools serving 6,396 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Delaware. The school portfolio breaks down into 8 elementary, 3 combined, 1 high, 1 middle 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 Kent County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $24,337 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the top 5 of 42 Delaware districts by per-pupil spending. See how Delaware compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 20.9% local, 65.9% state, and 13.1% 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 #2 of 40 in Delaware against a state average of 39, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 13 schools offering Advanced Placement (19 AP courses district-wide), a 371.1:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 44.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 52.1% African American, 22.5% White, 15.1% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Capital Early Childhood Center, with a diversity index of 72.1/100.
Its largest campus is Dover High School, enrolling 1,812 students (30% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Kent County Secondary Ilc, at 107 students, a 17x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Dover High School accounts for 28.3% of all Capital School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Capital 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.
Capital School District school enrollment varies 17× across entities
Capital School District school enrollment ranges from 107 students (lowest) to 1,812 students (highest), a spread of 1,705 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Capital School District student-counselor ratio is 371:1 — 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.
Capital School District chronic absenteeism rate is 44.4% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 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.
Capital School District has 13 schools, including 1 high, 1 middle, 8 elementary, 3 combined. Total enrollment is 6,396 students.
How much does Capital School District spend per student?
Capital School District spends $24,337 per student. The district has an equity score of 61/100, ranking #2 in Delaware.
What is the demographic composition of Capital School District?
Capital School District students are 52.1% African American, 22.5% White, 15.1% Hispanic or Latino, 1.3% Asian, averaged across 13 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Capital School District?
Capital School District has an equity score of 61/100, ranking #2 out of 40 districts in Delaware.