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Charleston, South Carolina - 79 schools
An equity score of 48/100 ranks Charleston 01 #42 of 73 districts in South Carolina (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,213 per pupil, Charleston 01 ranks #19 of 74 South Carolina districts by per-pupil spending (South Carolina districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
49,929
Total Enrollment
79
Schools
$15,213
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Charleston 01 operates 79 public schools serving 49,929 students, placing it among the larger districts in South Carolina. The school portfolio breaks down into 53 combined, 11 middle, 10 high, 5 elementary schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage across a sizeable portfolio 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 Charleston County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,213 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 74 South Carolina districts by per-pupil spending. See how South Carolina compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 59.0% local, 27.7% state, and 13.3% 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 48/100, ranked #42 of 73 in South Carolina against a state average of 51, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 13 of 79 schools offering Advanced Placement (143 AP courses district-wide), a 408.9:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 24.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 41.0% White, 35.9% African American, 16.8% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Pattison's Academy for Comprehensive Education, with a diversity index of 71.4/100.
Its largest campus is Wando High, enrolling 2,588 students (5% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Pattison's Academy for Comprehensive Education, at 53 students, a 49x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Charleston 01 school enrollment varies 49× across entities
Charleston 01 school enrollment ranges from 53 students (lowest) to 2,588 students (highest), a spread of 2,535 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity, the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Charleston 01 has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 69.7% 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). Eligibility here is approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. 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.
Charleston 01 student-counselor ratio is 409:1 — 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.
Charleston 01 chronic absenteeism rate is 24.6% — 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 Charleston 01 is typically wider than the Charleston 01-aggregate figure suggests.