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Strawberry, Arkansas - 2 schools
An equity score of 81/100 ranks Hillcrest School District #9 of 250 districts in Arkansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,071 per pupil, Hillcrest School District ranks #28 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending (Arkansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
434
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$15,071
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Hillcrest School District operates 2 public schools serving 434 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arkansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 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 Lawrence County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,071 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arkansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 24.5% local, 57.8% state, and 17.6% 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 81/100, ranked #9 of 250 in Arkansas against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 2 schools offering Advanced Placement (4 AP courses district-wide), a 442:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 16.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 94.7% White, 1.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.2% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Hillcrest Elementary School, enrolling 263 students (60% of the district's total enrollment).
Hillcrest Elementary School accounts for 59.5% of all Hillcrest School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Hillcrest School District a distant remainder — means Hillcrest School District-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.
Hillcrest School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 53.7% 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 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.
Hillcrest School District student-counselor ratio is 442:1 — 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.
Hillcrest School District chronic absenteeism rate is 16.2% — 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 Hillcrest School District is typically wider than the Hillcrest School District-aggregate figure suggests.
How many schools are in Hillcrest School District?
Hillcrest School District has 2 schools, including 2 combined. Total enrollment is 434 students.
How much does Hillcrest School District spend per student?
Hillcrest School District spends $15,071 per student. The district has an equity score of 81/100, ranking #9 in Arkansas.
What is the demographic composition of Hillcrest School District?
Hillcrest School District students are 94.7% White, 1.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.2% African American, averaged across 2 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Hillcrest School District?
Hillcrest School District has an equity score of 81/100, ranking #9 out of 250 districts in Arkansas.