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Chinook, Montana - 3 schools
An equity score of 54/100 ranks Chinook Elem #26 of 141 districts in Montana (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,692 per pupil, Chinook Elem ranks #205 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending (Montana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
228
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$15,692
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Chinook Elem operates 3 public schools serving 228 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Montana. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 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 Blaine County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,692 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 37.5% local, 40.0% state, and 22.4% 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 54/100, ranked #26 of 141 in Montana against a state average of 38, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 329.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 20.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 86.8% White, 2.0% Hispanic or Latino, 0.2% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Meadowlark School, with a diversity index of 39.6/100.
Its largest campus is Meadowlark School, enrolling 144 students (67% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Hartland Elementary School, at 8 students, a 18x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Meadowlark School accounts for 63.2% of all Chinook Elem student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Chinook Elem a distant remainder — means Chinook 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.
Chinook Elem school enrollment varies 18× across entities
Chinook Elem school enrollment ranges from 8 students (lowest) to 144 students (highest), a spread of 136 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Chinook Elem student-counselor ratio is 329:1 — 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 Chinook Elem is typically wider than the Chinook Elem-aggregate figure suggests.
Chinook Elem chronic absenteeism rate is 20.4% — 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 Chinook Elem is typically wider than the Chinook Elem-aggregate figure suggests.