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Fife Lake, Michigan - 3 schools
An equity score of 69/100 ranks Forest Area Community Schools #89 of 707 districts in Michigan (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,953 per pupil, Forest Area Community Schools ranks #219 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending (Michigan districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
515
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$13,953
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Forest Area Community Schools operates 3 public schools serving 515 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Michigan. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 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 Kalkaska County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,953 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending. See how Michigan compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 24.2% local, 56.4% state, and 19.4% 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 69/100, ranked #89 of 707 in Michigan against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 132.2:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 57.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 85.6% White, 2.6% African American, 1.9% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Fife Lake Elementary School, with a diversity index of 45.2/100.
Its largest campus is Forest Area Middle School, enrolling 193 students (39% of the district's total enrollment).
Forest Area Middle School accounts for 37.5% of all Forest Area Community Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Forest Area Community Schools-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Forest Area Community Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 58.2% 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.
Forest Area Community Schools student-counselor ratio is 132:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 Values this far below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Forest Area Community Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 57.1% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Forest Area Community Schools's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Michigan
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Forest Area Community Schools?
Forest Area Community Schools has 3 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 515 students.
How much does Forest Area Community Schools spend per student?
Forest Area Community Schools spends $13,953 per student. The district has an equity score of 69/100, ranking #89 in Michigan.
What is the demographic composition of Forest Area Community Schools?
Forest Area Community Schools students are 85.6% White, 2.6% African American, 1.9% Hispanic or Latino, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Forest Area Community Schools?
Forest Area Community Schools has an equity score of 69/100, ranking #89 out of 707 districts in Michigan.