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Kalispell, Montana - 2 schools
An equity score of 25/100 ranks Cayuse Prairie Elem #114 of 141 districts in Montana (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,681 per pupil, Cayuse Prairie Elem ranks #332 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending (Montana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
304
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$11,681
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Cayuse Prairie Elem operates 2 public schools serving 304 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Montana. The school portfolio breaks down into 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 Flathead County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,681 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending. See how Montana compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 36.7% local, 43.3% state, and 20.0% 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 25/100, ranked #114 of 141 in Montana against a state average of 38, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 311:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 27.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 88.5% White, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Cayuse Prairie School, enrolling 254 students (82% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Cayuse Prairie 7-8, at 57 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Cayuse Prairie School accounts for 81.7% of all Cayuse Prairie Elem student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Cayuse Prairie Elem a distant remainder — means Cayuse Prairie Elem-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.
Cayuse Prairie Elem student-counselor ratio is 311:1 — near the typical range (US average ~408) — within the typical range for U.S. public districts
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 Variation between sub-units within Cayuse Prairie Elem is typically wider than the Cayuse Prairie Elem-aggregate figure suggests.
Cayuse Prairie Elem chronic absenteeism rate is 27.6% — 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 Cayuse Prairie Elem is typically wider than the Cayuse Prairie Elem-aggregate figure suggests.