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Covington, Kentucky - 10 schools
An equity score of 76/100 ranks Covington Independent #25 of 171 districts in Kentucky (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,667 per pupil, Covington Independent ranks #11 of 171 Kentucky districts by per-pupil spending (Kentucky districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,665
Total Enrollment
10
Schools
$15,667
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Covington Independent operates 10 public schools serving 3,665 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Kentucky. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary, 2 high, 2 combined, 1 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 Kenton County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,667 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the top 18 of 171 Kentucky districts by per-pupil spending. See how Kentucky compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 29.6% local, 47.0% state, and 23.4% 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 76/100, ranked #25 of 171 in Kentucky 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 10 schools offering Advanced Placement (3 AP courses district-wide), a 302.3:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 18.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 34.7% White, 30.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.1% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Ninth District Elementary, with a diversity index of 73.5/100.
Its largest campus is Holmes High School, enrolling 855 students (24% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Covington Adult High School, at 7 students, a 122x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Holmes High School accounts for 23.3% of all Covington Independent student enrollment
That concentration means Covington Independent-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.
Covington Independent school enrollment varies 122× across entities
Covington Independent school enrollment ranges from 7 students (lowest) to 855 students (highest), a spread of 848 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.
Covington Independent has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 82.8% 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 — including this one — 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.
Covington Independent student-counselor ratio is 302:1 — 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 Covington Independent is typically wider than the Covington Independent-aggregate figure suggests.
Covington Independent chronic absenteeism rate is 18.8% — 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 Covington Independent is typically wider than the Covington Independent-aggregate figure suggests.