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Hot Springs, Arkansas - 5 schools
An equity score of 20/100 ranks Lakeside School District #234 of 250 districts in Arkansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,269 per pupil, Lakeside School District ranks #164 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending (Arkansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,466
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$11,269
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Lakeside School District operates 5 public schools serving 3,466 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arkansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 1 high, 1 combined, 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 Garland County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,269 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arkansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 49.0% local, 35.8% state, and 15.2% 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 20/100, ranked #234 of 250 in Arkansas 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 5 schools offering Advanced Placement (21 AP courses district-wide), a 429.8:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 17.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 68.4% White, 12.9% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Lakeside Primary School, with a diversity index of 56.0/100.
Its largest campus is Lakeside High School, enrolling 1,107 students (31% of the district's total enrollment).
Lakeside High School accounts for 31.3% of all Lakeside School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Lakeside School District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. 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.
Lakeside School District school enrollment varies 2.0× across entities
Lakeside School District school enrollment ranges from 546 students (lowest) to 1,107 students (highest), a spread of 561 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.
Lakeside School District student-counselor ratio is 430:1 — 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.
Lakeside School District chronic absenteeism rate is 17.7% — 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 Lakeside School District is typically wider than the Lakeside School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Lakeside School District has 5 schools, including 1 high, 2 elementary, 1 combined, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 3,466 students.
How much does Lakeside School District spend per student?
Lakeside School District spends $11,269 per student. The district has an equity score of 20/100, ranking #234 in Arkansas.
What is the demographic composition of Lakeside School District?
Lakeside School District students are 68.4% White, 12.9% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% African American, 2.3% Asian, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Lakeside School District?
Lakeside School District has an equity score of 20/100, ranking #234 out of 250 districts in Arkansas.