At $23,221 per pupil, Lake Arthur Municipal Schools ranks #29 of 143 New Mexico districts by per-pupil spending (New Mexico districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
136
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$23,221
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Lake Arthur Municipal Schools operates 3 public schools serving 136 students, placing it among the smallest districts in New Mexico. 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 Chaves County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $23,221 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 143 New Mexico districts by per-pupil spending. See how New Mexico compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 27.0% local, 63.5% state, and 9.5% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles.
and 7.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 83.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% White, 1.2% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Lake Arthur High, with a diversity index of 39.0/100.
Its largest campus is Lake Arthur Elementary, enrolling 67 students (55% of the district's total enrollment).
Enrollment across the district's NCES-reporting campuses fell 7.4% between 2022-23 and 2023-24 (136 to 126 students), and the student-teacher ratio tightened by 0.8 students per teacher as staffing held steadier than enrollment, per the NCES Common Core of Data annual universe files.
Of the district's $3,970,000 in reported FY2023 expenditures, 44.3% went to instruction, 32.1% to support services, and 18.1% to capital outlay, a capital-heavy year, consistent with active construction, renovation, or major equipment purchases. Figures come from the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey's function-level breakdown, not the aggregate per-pupil figure above.
Lake Arthur Elementary accounts for 49.3% of all Lake Arthur Municipal Schools student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Lake Arthur Municipal Schools a distant remainder — means Lake Arthur Municipal Schools-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade band: combined. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how the district allocates programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.
Lake Arthur Municipal Schools school enrollment varies 2.6× across entities
Lake Arthur Municipal Schools school enrollment ranges from 26 students (lowest) to 67 students (highest), a spread of 41 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.
Lake Arthur Municipal Schools reports 100.0% free-lunch eligibility
The reported share is above 87.5%, so economic need is widespread across the measured student population. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.
Lake Arthur Municipal Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 7.3% — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Comparisons are relative to Lake Arthur Municipal Schools's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in New Mexico
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How many schools are in Lake Arthur Municipal Schools?
Lake Arthur Municipal Schools has 3 schools, including 1 combined, 1 high, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 136 students.
How much does Lake Arthur Municipal Schools spend per student?
Lake Arthur Municipal Schools spends $23,221 per student.
What is the demographic composition of Lake Arthur Municipal Schools?
Lake Arthur Municipal Schools students are 83.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% White, 1.2% African American, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.