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Billings, Montana - 1 schools
An equity score of 26/100 ranks Independent Elem #110 of 141 districts in Montana (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,560 per pupil, Independent Elem ranks #382 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending (Montana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
297
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$9,560
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Independent Elem operates 1 public schools serving 297 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Montana. The school portfolio breaks down into 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 Yellowstone County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,560 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 40 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending. See how Montana compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 36.3% local, 51.4% state, and 12.3% 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 26/100, ranked #110 of 141 in Montana against a state average of 38, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 272:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 45.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 80.5% White, 7.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.4% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Independent School, enrolling 272 students (100% of the district's total enrollment).
Independent School accounts for 91.6% of all Independent Elem student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Independent Elem a distant remainder — means Independent Elem-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.
Independent Elem student-counselor ratio is 272:1 — 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 Independent Elem is typically wider than the Independent Elem-aggregate figure suggests.
Independent Elem chronic absenteeism rate is 45.6% — 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.