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Quincy, Florida - 16 schools
An equity score of 94/100 ranks Gadsden #1 of 67 districts in Florida (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,468 per pupil, Gadsden ranks #3 of 67 Florida districts by per-pupil spending (Florida districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,616
Total Enrollment
16
Schools
$13,468
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Gadsden operates 16 public schools serving 4,616 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Florida. The school portfolio breaks down into 12 combined, 2 high, 2 elementary 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 Gadsden County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,468 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the top 7 of 67 Florida districts by per-pupil spending. See how Florida compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 19.5% local, 46.2% state, and 34.3% 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 94/100, ranked #1 of 67 in Florida 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 2 of 16 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 307.2:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 37.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 78.3% African American, 16.6% Hispanic or Latino, 3.2% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Gadsden Virtual Instruction Program, with a diversity index of 62.3/100.
Its largest campus is Gadsden County High School, enrolling 1,086 students (23% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Gadsden Central Academy, at 10 students, a 109x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Gadsden County High School accounts for 23.4% of all Gadsden student enrollment
That concentration means Gadsden-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.
Gadsden school enrollment varies 109× across entities
Gadsden school enrollment ranges from 10 students (lowest) to 1,086 students (highest), a spread of 1,076 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Gadsden has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 77.4% 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 — including this one — 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.
Gadsden student-counselor ratio is 307:1 — 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 Gadsden is typically wider than the Gadsden-aggregate figure suggests.
Gadsden chronic absenteeism rate is 37.2% — 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.