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Lake City, South Carolina - 8 schools
An equity score of 78/100 ranks Florence 03 #5 of 73 districts in South Carolina (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,580 per pupil, Florence 03 ranks #24 of 74 South Carolina districts by per-pupil spending (South Carolina districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,993
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$14,580
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Florence 03 operates 8 public schools serving 2,993 students, placing it among the smaller districts in South Carolina. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 combined, 1 high, 1 elementary, 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 Florence County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,580 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 74 South Carolina districts by per-pupil spending. See how South Carolina compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 19.8% local, 49.8% state, and 30.4% 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 78/100, ranked #5 of 73 in South Carolina against a state average of 51, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 8 schools offering Advanced Placement (2 AP courses district-wide), a 288.8:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 36.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 63.9% African American, 27.1% White, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Scranton Elementary, with a diversity index of 59.3/100.
Its largest campus is Lake City High, enrolling 492 students (18% of the district's total enrollment).
Lake City High accounts for 16.4% of all Florence 03 student enrollment
That concentration means Florence 03-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.
Florence 03 school enrollment varies 2.5× across entities
Florence 03 school enrollment ranges from 198 students (lowest) to 492 students (highest), a spread of 294 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Florence 03 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.
Florence 03 student-counselor ratio is 289:1 — 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 Florence 03 is typically wider than the Florence 03-aggregate figure suggests.
Florence 03 chronic absenteeism rate is 36.3% — 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.