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Johnstown, Pennsylvania - 2 schools
An equity score of 88/100 ranks Ferndale Area Sd #16 of 648 districts in Pennsylvania (state average 49). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $19,959 per pupil, Ferndale Area Sd ranks #138 of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending (Pennsylvania districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
600
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$19,959
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Ferndale Area Sd operates 2 public schools serving 600 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Pennsylvania. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 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 Cambria County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $19,959 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending. See how Pennsylvania compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 22.8% local, 66.7% state, and 10.5% 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 88/100, ranked #16 of 648 in Pennsylvania against a state average of 49, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 2 schools offering Advanced Placement (2 AP courses district-wide), a 223.3:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 22.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 71.9% White, 13.0% African American, 6.6% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Ferndale El Sch, enrolling 325 students (53% of the district's total enrollment).
Ferndale El Sch accounts for 53.4% of all Ferndale Area Sd student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Ferndale Area Sd a distant remainder — means Ferndale Area Sd-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. 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.
Ferndale Area Sd has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 78.1% 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 — including this one — 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.
Ferndale Area Sd student-counselor ratio is 223:1 — 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.
Ferndale Area Sd chronic absenteeism rate is 22.0% — 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 Ferndale Area Sd is typically wider than the Ferndale Area Sd-aggregate figure suggests.
Ferndale Area Sd has 2 schools, including 2 combined. Total enrollment is 600 students.
How much does Ferndale Area Sd spend per student?
Ferndale Area Sd spends $19,959 per student. The district has an equity score of 88/100, ranking #16 in Pennsylvania.
What is the demographic composition of Ferndale Area Sd?
Ferndale Area Sd students are 71.9% White, 13.0% African American, 6.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.3% Asian, averaged across 2 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Ferndale Area Sd?
Ferndale Area Sd has an equity score of 88/100, ranking #16 out of 648 districts in Pennsylvania.