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Hempstead, Texas - 3 schools
An equity score of 52/100 ranks Hempstead Isd #479 of 1044 districts in Texas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,924 per pupil, Hempstead Isd ranks #595 of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending (Texas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,638
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$12,924
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Hempstead Isd operates 3 public schools serving 1,638 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Texas. 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 Waller County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,924 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Texas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 40.9% local, 40.7% state, and 18.4% 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 52/100, ranked #479 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.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (3 AP courses district-wide), a 314.2:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 35.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 65.8% Hispanic or Latino, 23.6% African American, 8.5% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Hempstead El, with a diversity index of 51.1/100.
Its largest campus is Hempstead El, enrolling 823 students (52% of the district's total enrollment).
Hempstead El accounts for 50.2% of all Hempstead Isd student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Hempstead Isd a distant remainder — means Hempstead 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.
Hempstead Isd school enrollment varies 2.7× across entities
Hempstead Isd school enrollment ranges from 300 students (lowest) to 823 students (highest), a spread of 523 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.
Hempstead Isd has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 81.5% 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.
Hempstead Isd student-counselor ratio is 314:1 — 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 Hempstead Isd is typically wider than the Hempstead Isd-aggregate figure suggests.
Hempstead Isd chronic absenteeism rate is 35.1% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.