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Espanola, New Mexico - 13 schools
An equity score of 73/100 ranks Espanola Public Schools #19 of 98 districts in New Mexico (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,886 per pupil, Espanola Public Schools ranks #74 of 141 New Mexico districts by per-pupil spending (New Mexico districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,954
Total Enrollment
13
Schools
$14,886
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Espanola Public Schools operates 13 public schools serving 2,954 students, placing it among the smaller districts in New Mexico. The school portfolio breaks down into 8 elementary, 3 combined, 1 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 Rio Arriba County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,886 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 141 New Mexico districts by per-pupil spending. See how New Mexico compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 9.0% local, 69.3% state, and 21.7% 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 73/100, ranked #19 of 98 in New Mexico 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 13 schools offering Advanced Placement (8 AP courses district-wide), a 240:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 55.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 89.5% Hispanic or Latino, 2.6% White, 0.4% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is San Juan Elementary, with a diversity index of 48.6/100.
Its largest campus is Espanola Valley High, enrolling 869 students (32% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Velarde Elementary, at 39 students, a 22x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Espanola Valley High accounts for 29.4% of all Espanola Public Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Espanola 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.
Espanola Public Schools school enrollment varies 22× across entities
Espanola Public Schools school enrollment ranges from 39 students (lowest) to 869 students (highest), a spread of 830 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.
Espanola Public Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 100.0% 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). Eligibility here is a supermajority of the population — well past the 75% concentration-grant threshold that unlocks extra funding 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.
Espanola Public Schools student-counselor ratio is 240:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Espanola Public Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 55.3% — 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.
Espanola Public Schools has 13 schools, including 1 high, 1 middle, 3 combined, 8 elementary. Total enrollment is 2,954 students.
How much does Espanola Public Schools spend per student?
Espanola Public Schools spends $14,886 per student. The district has an equity score of 73/100, ranking #19 in New Mexico.
What is the demographic composition of Espanola Public Schools?
Espanola Public Schools students are 89.5% Hispanic or Latino, 2.6% White, 0.4% African American, 0.3% Asian, averaged across 13 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Espanola Public Schools?
Espanola Public Schools has an equity score of 73/100, ranking #19 out of 98 districts in New Mexico.