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Edenton, North Carolina - 4 schools
An equity score of 82/100 ranks Edenton-Chowan Schools #15 of 293 districts in North Carolina (state average 45). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,768 per pupil, Edenton-Chowan Schools ranks #43 of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending (North Carolina districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,917
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$14,768
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Edenton-Chowan Schools operates 4 public schools serving 1,917 students, placing it among the smallest districts in North Carolina. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 high, 1 combined, 1 elementary, 1 middle 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 Chowan County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,768 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending. See how North Carolina compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 15.1% local, 66.6% state, and 18.4% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 82/100, ranked #15 of 293 in North Carolina against a state average of 45, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (4 AP courses district-wide), a 297.2:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 31.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 41.8% White, 41.1% African American, 11.0% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Chowan Middle, with a diversity index of 65.0/100.
Its largest campus is John a Holmes High, enrolling 554 students (31% of the district's total enrollment).
John a Holmes High accounts for 28.9% of all Edenton-Chowan Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Edenton-Chowan 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.
Edenton-Chowan Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 61.6% 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.
Edenton-Chowan Schools student-counselor ratio is 297:1 — 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 Edenton-Chowan Schools is typically wider than the Edenton-Chowan Schools-aggregate figure suggests.
Edenton-Chowan Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 31.0% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.