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Clifton, New Jersey - 18 schools
An equity score of 61/100 ranks Clifton Public School District #177 of 587 districts in New Jersey (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $22,669 per pupil, Clifton Public School District ranks #405 of 649 New Jersey districts by per-pupil spending (New Jersey districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
10,826
Total Enrollment
18
Schools
$22,669
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Clifton Public School District operates 18 public schools serving 10,826 students, placing it among the smaller districts in New Jersey. The school portfolio breaks down into 8 combined, 7 elementary, 2 middle, 1 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 Passaic County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $22,669 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 649 New Jersey districts by per-pupil spending. See how New Jersey compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 51.1% local, 39.2% state, and 9.7% 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 61/100, ranked #177 of 587 in New Jersey against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 18 schools offering Advanced Placement (30 AP courses district-wide), a 406.9:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 13.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 59.0% Hispanic or Latino, 27.9% White, 6.7% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is School #16, with a diversity index of 70.3/100.
Its largest campus is Clifton High School, enrolling 3,150 students (30% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is School #4, at 130 students, a 24x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Clifton High School accounts for 29.1% of all Clifton Public School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Clifton Public 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.
Clifton Public School District school enrollment varies 24× across entities
Clifton Public School District school enrollment ranges from 130 students (lowest) to 3,150 students (highest), a spread of 3,020 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Clifton Public School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 54.3% 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.
Clifton Public School District student-counselor ratio is 407:1 — 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.
Clifton Public School District chronic absenteeism rate is 13.5% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Comparisons are relative to Clifton Public School District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in New Jersey
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Clifton Public School District?
Clifton Public School District has 18 schools, including 1 high, 2 middle, 8 combined, 7 elementary. Total enrollment is 10,826 students.
How much does Clifton Public School District spend per student?
Clifton Public School District spends $22,669 per student. The district has an equity score of 61/100, ranking #177 in New Jersey.
What is the demographic composition of Clifton Public School District?
Clifton Public School District students are 59.0% Hispanic or Latino, 27.9% White, 6.7% Asian, 3.8% African American, averaged across 18 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Clifton Public School District?
Clifton Public School District has an equity score of 61/100, ranking #177 out of 587 districts in New Jersey.