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Gibson City, Illinois - 3 schools
An equity score of 44/100 ranks Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5 #247 of 763 districts in Illinois (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,934 per pupil, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5 ranks #422 of 848 Illinois districts by per-pupil spending (Illinois districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
968
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$15,934
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5 operates 3 public schools serving 968 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Illinois. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 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 Ford County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,934 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 848 Illinois districts by per-pupil spending. See how Illinois compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 58.4% local, 34.3% state, and 7.3% 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 44/100, ranked #247 of 763 in Illinois against a state average of 38, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 243:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 14.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 85.7% White, 8.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.9% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Gcms Middle School, with a diversity index of 29.1/100.
Its largest campus is Gcms Elementary School, enrolling 489 students (50% of the district's total enrollment).
Gcms Elementary School accounts for 50.2% of all Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5 student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5 a distant remainder — means Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5-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.
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5 school enrollment varies 2.3× across entities
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5 school enrollment ranges from 211 students (lowest) to 489 students (highest), a spread of 278 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.
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5 student-counselor ratio is 243:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5 chronic absenteeism rate is 14.9% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Comparisons are relative to Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Cusd 5's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Illinois
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.