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Newark, Arkansas - 2 schools
An equity score of 70/100 ranks Cedar Ridge School District #50 of 250 districts in Arkansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $17,183 per pupil, Cedar Ridge School District ranks #11 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending (Arkansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
641
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$17,183
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Cedar Ridge School District operates 2 public schools serving 641 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arkansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 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 Independence County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $17,183 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the top 26 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arkansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 56.0% local, 23.0% state, and 21.0% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 70/100, ranked #50 of 250 in Arkansas against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 159:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 21.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 92.3% White, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Cedar Ridge High School, enrolling 373 students (59% of the district's total enrollment).
Cedar Ridge High School accounts for 58.2% of all Cedar Ridge School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Cedar Ridge School District a distant remainder — means Cedar Ridge School District-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.
Cedar Ridge School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 57.1% 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 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.
Cedar Ridge School District student-counselor ratio is 159:1 — 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.
Cedar Ridge School District chronic absenteeism rate is 21.9% — 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 Cedar Ridge School District is typically wider than the Cedar Ridge School District-aggregate figure suggests.
How many schools are in Cedar Ridge School District?
Cedar Ridge School District has 2 schools, including 1 combined, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 641 students.
How much does Cedar Ridge School District spend per student?
Cedar Ridge School District spends $17,183 per student. The district has an equity score of 70/100, ranking #50 in Arkansas.
What is the demographic composition of Cedar Ridge School District?
Cedar Ridge School District students are 92.3% White, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% African American, 0.1% Asian, averaged across 2 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Cedar Ridge School District?
Cedar Ridge School District has an equity score of 70/100, ranking #50 out of 250 districts in Arkansas.