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Fort Lee, New Jersey - 6 schools
An equity score of 31/100 ranks Fort Lee School District #481 of 587 districts in New Jersey (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $21,776 per pupil, Fort Lee School District ranks #489 of 649 New Jersey districts by per-pupil spending (New Jersey districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,032
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$21,776
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Fort Lee School District operates 6 public schools serving 4,032 students, placing it among the smallest districts in New Jersey. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 elementary, 2 combined, 1 high 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 Bergen County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $21,776 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 649 New Jersey districts by per-pupil spending. See how New Jersey compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 71.8% local, 21.9% state, and 6.3% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 31/100, ranked #481 of 587 in New Jersey 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 6 schools offering Advanced Placement (16 AP courses district-wide), a 343.9:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 10.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 49.1% Asian, 22.5% White, 20.1% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Fort Lee High School, with a diversity index of 69.7/100.
Its largest campus is Lewis F. Cole Middle School, enrolling 1,227 students (31% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is School No. 3, at 330 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Lewis F. Cole Middle School accounts for 30.4% of all Fort Lee School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Fort Lee School District-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.
Fort Lee School District school enrollment varies 3.7× across entities
Fort Lee School District school enrollment ranges from 330 students (lowest) to 1,227 students (highest), a spread of 897 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.
Fort Lee School District student-counselor ratio is 344:1 — 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 Fort Lee School District is typically wider than the Fort Lee School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Fort Lee School District chronic absenteeism rate is 10.3% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Fort Lee School District has 6 schools, including 3 elementary, 1 high, 2 combined. Total enrollment is 4,032 students.
How much does Fort Lee School District spend per student?
Fort Lee School District spends $21,776 per student. The district has an equity score of 31/100, ranking #481 in New Jersey.
What is the demographic composition of Fort Lee School District?
Fort Lee School District students are 49.1% Asian, 22.5% White, 20.1% Hispanic or Latino, 4.1% African American, averaged across 6 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Fort Lee School District?
Fort Lee School District has an equity score of 31/100, ranking #481 out of 587 districts in New Jersey.