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Garden City, Kansas - 18 schools
An equity score of 35/100 ranks Garden City #196 of 250 districts in Kansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,807 per pupil, Garden City ranks #232 of 285 Kansas districts by per-pupil spending (Kansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
7,304
Total Enrollment
18
Schools
$12,807
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Garden City operates 18 public schools serving 7,304 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Kansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 13 elementary, 3 combined, 1 high, 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 Finney County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,807 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 285 Kansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Kansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 22.3% local, 68.1% state, and 9.6% 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 35/100, ranked #196 of 250 in Kansas 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 18 schools offering Advanced Placement (12 AP courses district-wide), a 340.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 30.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 72.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% White, 5.3% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Florence Wilson Elem, with a diversity index of 60.7/100.
Its largest campus is Garden City High School, enrolling 1,946 students (28% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Usd 457 Virtual Academy, at 76 students, a 26x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Garden City High School accounts for 26.6% of all Garden City student enrollment
That concentration means Garden City-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.
Garden City school enrollment varies 26× across entities
Garden City school enrollment ranges from 76 students (lowest) to 1,946 students (highest), a spread of 1,870 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Garden City has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 62.7% 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 approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. 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.
Garden City student-counselor ratio is 340:1 — 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 Garden City is typically wider than the Garden City-aggregate figure suggests.
Garden City chronic absenteeism rate is 30.7% — 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.
Garden City has 18 schools, including 1 high, 3 combined, 1 middle, 13 elementary. Total enrollment is 7,304 students.
How much does Garden City spend per student?
Garden City spends $12,807 per student. The district has an equity score of 35/100, ranking #196 in Kansas.
What is the demographic composition of Garden City?
Garden City students are 72.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% White, 5.3% African American, 3.8% Asian, averaged across 18 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Garden City?
Garden City has an equity score of 35/100, ranking #196 out of 250 districts in Kansas.