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Cary, North Carolina - 1 schools
An equity score of 31/100 ranks Cardinal Charter #200 of 293 districts in North Carolina (state average 45). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $7,990 per pupil, Cardinal Charter ranks #307 of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending (North Carolina districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
700
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$7,990
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Cardinal Charter operates 1 public schools serving 700 students, placing it among the smallest districts in North Carolina. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary 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 Wake County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $7,990 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 33 of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending. See how North Carolina compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 26.3% local, 64.3% state, and 9.3% 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 31/100, ranked #200 of 293 in North Carolina against a state average of 45, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 584:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 7.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 33.9% African American, 26.2% White, 20.5% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Cardinal Charter Academy, enrolling 584 students (100% of the district's total enrollment).
Cardinal Charter Academy accounts for 83.4% of all Cardinal Charter student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Cardinal Charter a distant remainder — means Cardinal Charter-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.
Cardinal Charter student-counselor ratio is 584:1 — 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.
Cardinal Charter chronic absenteeism rate is 7.4% — 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.
Cardinal Charter has 1 school, including 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 700 students.
How much does Cardinal Charter spend per student?
Cardinal Charter spends $7,990 per student. The district has an equity score of 31/100, ranking #200 in North Carolina.
What is the demographic composition of Cardinal Charter?
Cardinal Charter students are 33.9% African American, 26.2% White, 20.5% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, averaged across 1 school. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Cardinal Charter?
Cardinal Charter has an equity score of 31/100, ranking #200 out of 293 districts in North Carolina.