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Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - 19 schools
An equity score of 32/100 ranks Central Dauphin Sd #494 of 648 districts in Pennsylvania (state average 49). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,143 per pupil, Central Dauphin Sd ranks #554 of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending (Pennsylvania districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
12,479
Total Enrollment
19
Schools
$15,143
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Central Dauphin Sd operates 19 public schools serving 12,479 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Pennsylvania. The school portfolio breaks down into 13 elementary, 4 middle, 2 high schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Dauphin County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,143 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending. See how Pennsylvania compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 68.5% local, 22.6% state, and 8.9% 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 32/100, ranked #494 of 648 in Pennsylvania against a state average of 49, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 2 of 19 schools offering Advanced Placement (37 AP courses district-wide), a 467.7:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 23.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 38.4% White, 20.4% African American, 17.4% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Paxtang El Sch, with a diversity index of 78.6/100.
Its largest campus is Central Dauphin Shs, enrolling 1,966 students (16% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Chambers Hill El Sch, at 257 students, a 8x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Central Dauphin Shs accounts for 15.8% of all Central Dauphin Sd student enrollment
That concentration means Central Dauphin Sd-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. 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.
Central Dauphin Sd school enrollment varies 7.6× across entities
Central Dauphin Sd school enrollment ranges from 257 students (lowest) to 1,966 students (highest), a spread of 1,709 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.
Central Dauphin Sd has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 78.6% 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.
Central Dauphin Sd student-counselor ratio is 468:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Central Dauphin Sd chronic absenteeism rate is 23.5% — 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 Central Dauphin Sd is typically wider than the Central Dauphin Sd-aggregate figure suggests.
Central Dauphin Sd has 19 schools, including 2 high, 4 middle, 13 elementary. Total enrollment is 12,479 students.
How much does Central Dauphin Sd spend per student?
Central Dauphin Sd spends $15,143 per student. The district has an equity score of 32/100, ranking #494 in Pennsylvania.
What is the demographic composition of Central Dauphin Sd?
Central Dauphin Sd students are 38.4% White, 20.4% African American, 17.4% Asian, 14.9% Hispanic or Latino, averaged across 19 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Central Dauphin Sd?
Central Dauphin Sd has an equity score of 32/100, ranking #494 out of 648 districts in Pennsylvania.