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Castlewood, South Dakota - 4 schools
An equity score of 27/100 ranks Castlewood School District 28-1 #109 of 121 districts in South Dakota (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,844 per pupil, Castlewood School District 28-1 ranks #138 of 149 South Dakota districts by per-pupil spending (South Dakota districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
334
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$9,844
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Castlewood School District 28-1 operates 4 public schools serving 334 students, placing it among the smallest districts in South Dakota. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 1 high, 1 middle, 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 Hamlin County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,844 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 15 of 149 South Dakota districts by per-pupil spending. See how South Dakota compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 40.4% local, 35.8% state, and 23.7% 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 27/100, ranked #109 of 121 in South Dakota against a state average of 51, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 86.3:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 13.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 93.9% White, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Castlewood Middle School - 03, with a diversity index of 17.1/100.
Its largest campus is Castlewood Elementary - 02, enrolling 140 students (41% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Claremont Colony Elementary - 04, at 17 students, a 8x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Castlewood Elementary - 02 accounts for 40.6% of all Castlewood School District 28-1 student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Castlewood School District 28-1-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.
Castlewood School District 28-1 school enrollment varies 8.2× across entities
Castlewood School District 28-1 school enrollment ranges from 17 students (lowest) to 140 students (highest), a spread of 123 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.
Castlewood School District 28-1 student-counselor ratio is 86:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 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.
Castlewood School District 28-1 chronic absenteeism rate is 13.8% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Comparisons are relative to Castlewood School District 28-1's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in South Dakota
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