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Kalama, Washington - 3 schools
An equity score of 21/100 ranks Kalama School District #229 of 238 districts in Washington (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,745 per pupil, Kalama School District ranks #306 of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending (Washington districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,151
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$11,745
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Kalama School District operates 3 public schools serving 1,151 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Washington. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary, 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 Cowlitz County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,745 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 31 of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending. See how Washington compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 30.4% local, 64.0% state, and 5.6% 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 21/100, ranked #229 of 238 in Washington against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (2 AP courses district-wide), a 379.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 11.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 81.7% White, 12.2% Hispanic or Latino, 1.2% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Kalama High School, with a diversity index of 35.0/100.
Its largest campus is Kalama Elem School, enrolling 525 students (46% of the district's total enrollment).
Kalama Elem School accounts for 45.6% of all Kalama School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Kalama School District a distant remainder — means Kalama School District-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.
Kalama School District 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.
Kalama School District chronic absenteeism rate is 11.0% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Kalama School District has 3 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 1,151 students.
How much does Kalama School District spend per student?
Kalama School District spends $11,745 per student. The district has an equity score of 21/100, ranking #229 in Washington.
What is the demographic composition of Kalama School District?
Kalama School District students are 81.7% White, 12.2% Hispanic or Latino, 1.2% Asian, 0.9% African American, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Kalama School District?
Kalama School District has an equity score of 21/100, ranking #229 out of 238 districts in Washington.