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New Castle, Delaware - 14 schools
An equity score of 49/100 ranks Colonial School District #9 of 40 districts in Delaware (state average 39). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $19,934 per pupil, Colonial School District ranks #9 of 42 Delaware districts by per-pupil spending (Delaware districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
9,132
Total Enrollment
14
Schools
$19,934
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Colonial School District operates 14 public schools serving 9,132 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Delaware. The school portfolio breaks down into 8 elementary, 3 middle, 2 combined, 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 New Castle County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $19,934 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 42 Delaware districts by per-pupil spending. See how Delaware compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 35.1% local, 53.5% 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 49/100, ranked #9 of 40 in Delaware against a state average of 39, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 14 schools offering Advanced Placement (19 AP courses district-wide), a 337:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 46.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 44.6% African American, 25.2% Hispanic or Latino, 22.3% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Castle Hills Elementary School, with a diversity index of 72.2/100.
Its largest campus is Penn (William) High School, enrolling 2,069 students (24% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Leach (John G.) School, at 95 students, a 22x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Penn (William) High School accounts for 22.7% of all Colonial School District student enrollment
That concentration means Colonial 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.
Colonial School District school enrollment varies 22× across entities
Colonial School District school enrollment ranges from 95 students (lowest) to 2,069 students (highest), a spread of 1,974 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.
Colonial School District student-counselor ratio is 337:1 — 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 Colonial School District is typically wider than the Colonial School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Colonial School District chronic absenteeism rate is 46.5% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 Values this far above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Colonial School District has 14 schools, including 1 high, 8 elementary, 3 middle, 2 combined. Total enrollment is 9,132 students.
How much does Colonial School District spend per student?
Colonial School District spends $19,934 per student. The district has an equity score of 49/100, ranking #9 in Delaware.
What is the demographic composition of Colonial School District?
Colonial School District students are 44.6% African American, 25.2% Hispanic or Latino, 22.3% White, 2.2% Asian, averaged across 14 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Colonial School District?
Colonial School District has an equity score of 49/100, ranking #9 out of 40 districts in Delaware.