Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal
records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our
editorial standards & corrections policy, the
methodology behind these numbers, or
report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Columbia, Connecticut - 1 schools
An equity score of 60/100 ranks Columbia School District #54 of 174 districts in Connecticut (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $26,061 per pupil, Columbia School District ranks #55 of 191 Connecticut districts by per-pupil spending (Connecticut districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
464
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$26,061
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Columbia School District operates 1 public schools serving 464 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Connecticut. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined 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 Capitol Planning Region.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $26,061 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 191 Connecticut districts by per-pupil spending. See how Connecticut compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 71.0% local, 26.8% state, and 2.3% 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 60/100, ranked #54 of 174 in Connecticut against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 146.7:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 7.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 83.4% White, 10.7% Hispanic or Latino, 0.5% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Horace W. Porter School, enrolling 440 students (100% of the district's total enrollment).
Horace W. Porter School accounts for 94.8% of all Columbia School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Columbia School District a distant remainder — means Columbia School District-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.
Columbia School District student-counselor ratio is 147:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 Values this far below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Columbia School District chronic absenteeism rate is 7.0% — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Columbia School District has 1 school, including 1 combined. Total enrollment is 464 students.
How much does Columbia School District spend per student?
Columbia School District spends $26,061 per student. The district has an equity score of 60/100, ranking #54 in Connecticut.
What is the demographic composition of Columbia School District?
Columbia School District students are 83.4% White, 10.7% Hispanic or Latino, 0.5% African American, 0.5% Asian, averaged across 1 school. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Columbia School District?
Columbia School District has an equity score of 60/100, ranking #54 out of 174 districts in Connecticut.