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Surprise, Arizona - 25 schools
An equity score of 32/100 ranks Dysart Unified District (4243) #236 of 437 districts in Arizona (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,891 per pupil, Dysart Unified District (4243) ranks #398 of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending (Arizona districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
23,173
Total Enrollment
25
Schools
$9,891
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Dysart Unified District (4243) operates 25 public schools serving 23,173 students, placing it in the mid-size range in Arizona. The school portfolio breaks down into 21 combined, 4 elementary schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage 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 Maricopa County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,891 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arizona compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 38.2% local, 44.3% state, and 17.5% 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 32/100, ranked #236 of 437 in Arizona against a state average of 38, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 4 of 25 schools offering Advanced Placement (36 AP courses district-wide), a 322.3:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 42.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 45.6% Hispanic or Latino, 36.1% White, 8.0% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Luke Elementary School, with a diversity index of 70.3/100.
Its largest campus is Valley Vista High School, enrolling 2,334 students (10% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Dysart Ischool, at 106 students, a 22x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Dysart Unified District (4243) school enrollment varies 22× across entities
Dysart Unified District (4243) school enrollment ranges from 106 students (lowest) to 2,334 students (highest), a spread of 2,228 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.
Dysart Unified District (4243) student-counselor ratio is 322:1 — 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 Dysart Unified District (4243) is typically wider than the Dysart Unified District (4243)-aggregate figure suggests.
Dysart Unified District (4243) chronic absenteeism rate is 42.4% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Dysart Unified District (4243)'s own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Arizona
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.