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Cass Lake, Minnesota - 4 schools
An equity score of 91/100 ranks Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools #9 of 410 districts in Minnesota (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $22,334 per pupil, Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools ranks #27 of 504 Minnesota districts by per-pupil spending (Minnesota districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,138
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$22,334
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools operates 4 public schools serving 1,138 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Minnesota. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined, 1 elementary, 1 high 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 Cass County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $22,334 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the top 51 of 504 Minnesota districts by per-pupil spending. See how Minnesota compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 13.3% local, 52.2% state, and 34.6% 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 91/100, ranked #9 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.
a 223:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 61.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 4.2% White, 1.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Cass Lake-Bena Secondary, with a diversity index of 14.2/100.
Its largest campus is Cass Lake-Bena Elementary, enrolling 450 students (40% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Cass Lake-Bena Area Lrng. Cntr., at 94 students, a 5x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Cass Lake-Bena Elementary accounts for 39.5% of all Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools-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.
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools school enrollment varies 4.8× across entities
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools school enrollment ranges from 94 students (lowest) to 450 students (highest), a spread of 356 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.
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 76.9% 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.
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools student-counselor ratio is 223:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 61.0% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools'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 Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools?
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools has 4 schools, including 2 combined, 1 elementary, 1 high. Total enrollment is 1,138 students.
How much does Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools spend per student?
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools spends $22,334 per student. The district has an equity score of 91/100, ranking #9 in Minnesota.
What is the demographic composition of Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools?
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools students are 4.2% White, 1.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% African American, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools?
Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools has an equity score of 91/100, ranking #9 out of 410 districts in Minnesota.