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Lancaster, Texas - 10 schools
An equity score of 37/100 ranks Lancaster Isd #729 of 1044 districts in Texas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,560 per pupil, Lancaster Isd ranks #867 of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending (Texas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
7,032
Total Enrollment
10
Schools
$11,560
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Lancaster Isd operates 10 public schools serving 7,032 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Texas. The school portfolio breaks down into 6 combined, 2 high, 2 middle schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Dallas County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,560 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Texas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 51.3% local, 29.2% state, and 19.6% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 37/100, ranked #729 of 1044 in Texas 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 10 schools offering Advanced Placement (8 AP courses district-wide), a 475.5:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 30.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 71.7% African American, 21.4% Hispanic or Latino, 3.9% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Houston El, with a diversity index of 50.3/100.
Its largest campus is Lancaster H S, enrolling 2,255 students (33% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is L Isd J J a E P, at 4 students, a 564x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Lancaster H S accounts for 32.1% of all Lancaster Isd student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Lancaster Isd-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.
Lancaster Isd school enrollment varies 564× across entities
Lancaster Isd school enrollment ranges from 4 students (lowest) to 2,255 students (highest), a spread of 2,251 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Lancaster Isd has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 85.8% 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 — including this one — 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.
Lancaster Isd student-counselor ratio is 476:1 — 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.
Lancaster Isd chronic absenteeism rate is 30.4% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.