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Fort Madison, Iowa - 4 schools
An equity score of 72/100 ranks Fort Madison Comm School District #46 of 303 districts in Iowa (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,473 per pupil, Fort Madison Comm School District ranks #74 of 327 Iowa districts by per-pupil spending (Iowa districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,832
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$13,473
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Fort Madison Comm School District operates 4 public schools serving 1,832 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Iowa. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 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 Lee County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,473 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 327 Iowa districts by per-pupil spending. See how Iowa compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 33.9% local, 52.3% state, and 13.8% 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 72/100, ranked #46 of 303 in Iowa against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (5 AP courses district-wide), a 477.3:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 23.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 82.3% White, 8.5% Hispanic or Latino, 1.6% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Fort Madison High School, enrolling 852 students (41% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Lincoln Elementary School, at 236 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Fort Madison High School accounts for 40.7% of all Fort Madison Comm School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Fort Madison Comm 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.
Fort Madison Comm School District school enrollment varies 3.6× across entities
Fort Madison Comm School District school enrollment ranges from 236 students (lowest) to 852 students (highest), a spread of 616 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 Madison Comm School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 52.4% 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.
Fort Madison Comm School District student-counselor ratio is 477:1 — 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.
Fort Madison Comm School District chronic absenteeism rate is 23.8% — 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 Fort Madison Comm School District is typically wider than the Fort Madison Comm School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Comparisons are relative to Fort Madison Comm School District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Iowa
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Fort Madison Comm School District?
Fort Madison Comm School District has 4 schools, including 1 high, 2 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 1,832 students.
How much does Fort Madison Comm School District spend per student?
Fort Madison Comm School District spends $13,473 per student. The district has an equity score of 72/100, ranking #46 in Iowa.
What is the demographic composition of Fort Madison Comm School District?
Fort Madison Comm School District students are 82.3% White, 8.5% Hispanic or Latino, 1.6% African American, 0.9% Asian, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Fort Madison Comm School District?
Fort Madison Comm School District has an equity score of 72/100, ranking #46 out of 303 districts in Iowa.