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Garden City, New York - 7 schools
An equity score of 29/100 ranks Garden City Union Free School District #717 of 941 districts in New York (state average 45). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $27,785 per pupil, Garden City Union Free School District ranks #309 of 999 New York districts by per-pupil spending (New York districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,945
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$27,785
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Garden City Union Free School District operates 7 public schools serving 3,945 students, placing it among the smallest districts in New York. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle 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 Nassau County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $27,785 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 999 New York districts by per-pupil spending. See how New York compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 89.1% local, 8.7% state, and 2.2% 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 29/100, ranked #717 of 941 in New York against a state average of 45, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (21 AP courses district-wide), a 263.7:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 7.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 75.5% White, 13.9% Asian, 7.4% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Homestead School, with a diversity index of 44.9/100.
Its largest campus is Garden City High School, enrolling 1,096 students (28% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Locust School, at 151 students, a 7x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Garden City High School accounts for 27.8% of all Garden City Union Free School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Garden City Union Free 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.
Garden City Union Free School District school enrollment varies 7.3× across entities
Garden City Union Free School District school enrollment ranges from 151 students (lowest) to 1,096 students (highest), a spread of 945 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.
Garden City Union Free School District student-counselor ratio is 264:1 — 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 Union Free School District is typically wider than the Garden City Union Free School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Garden City Union Free School District chronic absenteeism rate is 7.8% — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 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.
Comparisons are relative to Garden City Union Free School District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in New York
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Garden City Union Free School District?
Garden City Union Free School District has 7 schools, including 1 high, 1 middle, 5 elementary. Total enrollment is 3,945 students.
How much does Garden City Union Free School District spend per student?
Garden City Union Free School District spends $27,785 per student. The district has an equity score of 29/100, ranking #717 in New York.
What is the demographic composition of Garden City Union Free School District?
Garden City Union Free School District students are 75.5% White, 13.9% Asian, 7.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.8% African American, averaged across 7 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Garden City Union Free School District?
Garden City Union Free School District has an equity score of 29/100, ranking #717 out of 941 districts in New York.