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Cheney, Washington - 12 schools
An equity score of 32/100 ranks Cheney School District #187 of 238 districts in Washington (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,274 per pupil, Cheney School District ranks #291 of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending (Washington districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
5,540
Total Enrollment
12
Schools
$14,274
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Cheney School District operates 12 public schools serving 5,540 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Washington. The school portfolio breaks down into 8 combined, 2 high, 2 middle 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 Spokane County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,274 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 31 of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending. See how Washington compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 23.2% local, 65.4% state, and 11.4% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 32/100, ranked #187 of 238 in Washington against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 2 of 12 schools offering Advanced Placement (11 AP courses district-wide), a 380.7:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 17.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 69.9% White, 13.0% Hispanic or Latino, 1.7% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Sunset Elementary, with a diversity index of 70.2/100.
Its largest campus is Cheney High School, enrolling 1,491 students (26% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Cheney Open Doors, at 10 students, a 149x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Cheney High School accounts for 26.5% of all Cheney School District student enrollment
That concentration means Cheney School District-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.
Cheney School District school enrollment varies 149× across entities
Cheney School District school enrollment ranges from 10 students (lowest) to 1,491 students (highest), a spread of 1,481 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Cheney School District student-counselor ratio is 381:1 — 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.
Cheney School District chronic absenteeism rate is 17.2% — 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 Cheney School District is typically wider than the Cheney School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Cheney School District has 12 schools, including 2 high, 2 middle, 8 combined. Total enrollment is 5,540 students.
How much does Cheney School District spend per student?
Cheney School District spends $14,274 per student. The district has an equity score of 32/100, ranking #187 in Washington.
What is the demographic composition of Cheney School District?
Cheney School District students are 69.9% White, 13.0% Hispanic or Latino, 1.7% African American, 1.5% Asian, averaged across 12 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Cheney School District?
Cheney School District has an equity score of 32/100, ranking #187 out of 238 districts in Washington.