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Hartford, Michigan - 4 schools
An equity score of 45/100 ranks Hartford Public Schools #424 of 707 districts in Michigan (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,434 per pupil, Hartford Public Schools ranks #651 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending (Michigan districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,364
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$11,434
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Hartford Public Schools operates 4 public schools serving 1,364 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Michigan. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle, 1 combined 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 Van Buren County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,434 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending. See how Michigan compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 16.1% local, 63.8% state, and 20.2% 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 45/100, ranked #424 of 707 in Michigan against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (3 AP courses district-wide), a 379:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 47.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 51.9% Hispanic or Latino, 42.0% White, 1.9% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Hartford Alternative Education, with a diversity index of 55.5/100.
Its largest campus is Redwood Elementary, enrolling 516 students (39% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Hartford Alternative Education, at 122 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Redwood Elementary accounts for 37.8% of all Hartford Public Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Hartford Public Schools-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Hartford Public Schools school enrollment varies 4.2× across entities
Hartford Public Schools school enrollment ranges from 122 students (lowest) to 516 students (highest), a spread of 394 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.
Hartford Public Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 76.5% 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). Areas above 75% eligibility — including this one — receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. 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.
Hartford Public Schools student-counselor ratio is 379:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Hartford Public Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 47.3% — 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.
Hartford Public Schools has 4 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 1,364 students.
How much does Hartford Public Schools spend per student?
Hartford Public Schools spends $11,434 per student. The district has an equity score of 45/100, ranking #424 in Michigan.
What is the demographic composition of Hartford Public Schools?
Hartford Public Schools students are 51.9% Hispanic or Latino, 42.0% White, 1.9% African American, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Hartford Public Schools?
Hartford Public Schools has an equity score of 45/100, ranking #424 out of 707 districts in Michigan.