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Dalton, Georgia - 10 schools
An equity score of 57/100 ranks Dalton Public Schools #81 of 216 districts in Georgia (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,574 per pupil, Dalton Public Schools ranks #97 of 219 Georgia districts by per-pupil spending (Georgia districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
7,675
Total Enrollment
10
Schools
$13,574
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Dalton Public Schools operates 10 public schools serving 7,675 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Georgia. The school portfolio breaks down into 7 combined, 2 high, 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 Whitfield County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,574 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 219 Georgia districts by per-pupil spending. See how Georgia compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 36.1% local, 44.1% state, and 19.8% 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 57/100, ranked #81 of 216 in Georgia against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 3 of 10 schools offering Advanced Placement (22 AP courses district-wide), a 478.9:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 21.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 74.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% White, 4.4% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Westwood Elementary School, with a diversity index of 61.5/100.
Its largest campus is Dalton High School, enrolling 1,919 students (25% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Roan Elementary School, at 421 students, a 5x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Dalton High School accounts for 25.0% of all Dalton Public Schools student enrollment
That concentration means Dalton Public Schools-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.
Dalton Public Schools school enrollment varies 4.6× across entities
Dalton Public Schools school enrollment ranges from 421 students (lowest) to 1,919 students (highest), a spread of 1,498 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.
Dalton Public Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 60.9% 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.
Dalton Public Schools student-counselor ratio is 479:1 — 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.
Dalton Public Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 21.8% — 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 Dalton Public Schools is typically wider than the Dalton Public Schools-aggregate figure suggests.
Dalton Public Schools has 10 schools, including 2 high, 1 middle, 7 combined. Total enrollment is 7,675 students.
How much does Dalton Public Schools spend per student?
Dalton Public Schools spends $13,574 per student. The district has an equity score of 57/100, ranking #81 in Georgia.
What is the demographic composition of Dalton Public Schools?
Dalton Public Schools students are 74.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% White, 4.4% African American, 2.1% Asian, averaged across 10 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Dalton Public Schools?
Dalton Public Schools has an equity score of 57/100, ranking #81 out of 216 districts in Georgia.