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Cranford, New Jersey - 7 schools
An equity score of 22/100 ranks Cranford Public School District #543 of 587 districts in New Jersey (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $21,994 per pupil, Cranford Public School District ranks #472 of 649 New Jersey districts by per-pupil spending (New Jersey districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,745
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$21,994
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Cranford Public School District operates 7 public schools serving 3,745 students, placing it among the smallest districts in New Jersey. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary, 1 high, 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 Union County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $21,994 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 74.3% local, 23.4% 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 22/100, ranked #543 of 587 in New Jersey against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (29 AP courses district-wide), a 494.7:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 7.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 72.2% White, 15.3% Hispanic or Latino, 4.2% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Hillside Avenue School, with a diversity index of 53.3/100.
Its largest campus is Cranford High School, enrolling 1,116 students (30% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Bloomingdale Avenue School, at 226 students, a 5x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Cranford High School accounts for 29.6% of all Cranford Public School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Cranford 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.
Cranford Public School District school enrollment varies 4.9× across entities
Cranford Public School District school enrollment ranges from 226 students (lowest) to 1,116 students (highest), a spread of 890 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Cranford Public School District student-counselor ratio is 495:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 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.
Cranford Public School District chronic absenteeism rate is 7.4% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Cranford 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 Cranford Public School District?
Cranford Public School District has 7 schools, including 1 high, 5 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 3,745 students.
How much does Cranford Public School District spend per student?
Cranford Public School District spends $21,994 per student. The district has an equity score of 22/100, ranking #543 in New Jersey.
What is the demographic composition of Cranford Public School District?
Cranford Public School District students are 72.2% White, 15.3% Hispanic or Latino, 4.2% Asian, 2.4% African American, averaged across 7 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Cranford Public School District?
Cranford Public School District has an equity score of 22/100, ranking #543 out of 587 districts in New Jersey.