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Milton, Washington - 7 schools
An equity score of 32/100 ranks Fife School District #188 of 238 districts in Washington (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,780 per pupil, Fife School District ranks #179 of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending (Washington districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,893
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$16,780
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Fife School District operates 7 public schools serving 3,893 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Washington. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 high, 2 elementary, 2 combined, 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 Pierce County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,780 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending. See how Washington compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 32.2% local, 59.8% state, and 8.0% 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 32/100, ranked #188 of 238 in Washington against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (8 AP courses district-wide), a 361.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 17.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 35.6% White, 24.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Fife Elementary School, with a diversity index of 80.4/100.
Its largest campus is Fife High School, enrolling 885 students (22% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Fife Open Doors, at 25 students, a 35x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Fife High School accounts for 22.2% of all Fife School District student enrollment
That concentration means Fife School District-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.
Fife School District school enrollment varies 35× across entities
Fife School District school enrollment ranges from 25 students (lowest) to 885 students (highest), a spread of 860 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity, the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Fife School District student-counselor ratio is 361:1 — 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.
Fife School District chronic absenteeism rate is 17.4% — 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 Fife School District is typically wider than the Fife School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Fife School District has 7 schools, including 2 high, 2 elementary, 2 combined, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 3,893 students.
How much does Fife School District spend per student?
Fife School District spends $16,780 per student. The district has an equity score of 32/100, ranking #188 in Washington.
What is the demographic composition of Fife School District?
Fife School District students are 35.6% White, 24.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 6.9% African American, averaged across 7 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Fife School District?
Fife School District has an equity score of 32/100, ranking #188 out of 238 districts in Washington.