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Waco, Texas - 2 schools
An equity score of 56/100 ranks Gholson Isd #425 of 1044 districts in Texas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,983 per pupil, Gholson Isd ranks #789 of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending (Texas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
263
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$11,983
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Gholson Isd operates 2 public schools serving 263 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Texas. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 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 Mclennan County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,983 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Texas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 18.3% local, 65.0% state, and 16.6% 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 56/100, ranked #425 of 1044 in Texas against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 264:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 21.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 62.9% Hispanic or Latino, 32.4% White, 2.3% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Gholson School, enrolling 264 students (100% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Mclennan County Challenge Academy, at 1 students, a 264x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Gholson School accounts for 99.6% of all Gholson Isd student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Gholson Isd a distant remainder — means Gholson Isd-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. 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.
Gholson Isd has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 64.1% 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.
Gholson Isd 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 Gholson Isd is typically wider than the Gholson Isd-aggregate figure suggests.
Gholson Isd chronic absenteeism rate is 21.6% — 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 Gholson Isd is typically wider than the Gholson Isd-aggregate figure suggests.