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Hardin, Montana - 5 schools
An equity score of 67/100 ranks Hardin Elem #9 of 141 districts in Montana (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,447 per pupil, Hardin Elem ranks #208 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending (Montana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,284
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$15,447
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Hardin Elem operates 5 public schools serving 1,284 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Montana. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 combined, 1 middle, 1 elementary 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 Big Horn County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,447 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending. See how Montana compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 17.3% local, 35.3% state, and 47.4% 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 67/100, ranked #9 of 141 in Montana against a state average of 38, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 254.4:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 74.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 11.2% White, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.8% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Hardin Intermediate, with a diversity index of 50.9/100.
Its largest campus is Hardin Middle School, enrolling 359 students (29% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Fort Smith School, at 17 students, a 21x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Hardin Middle School accounts for 28.0% of all Hardin Elem student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Hardin Elem-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: middle. 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.
Hardin Elem school enrollment varies 21× across entities
Hardin Elem school enrollment ranges from 17 students (lowest) to 359 students (highest), a spread of 342 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.
Hardin Elem student-counselor ratio is 254:1 — 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 Hardin Elem is typically wider than the Hardin Elem-aggregate figure suggests.
Hardin Elem chronic absenteeism rate is 74.8% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.