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Laurel, Mississippi - 6 schools
An equity score of 32/100 ranks Laurel School District #121 of 146 districts in Mississippi (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,638 per pupil, Laurel School District ranks #92 of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending (Mississippi districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,712
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$10,638
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Laurel School District operates 6 public schools serving 2,712 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Mississippi. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 combined, 1 high, 1 middle, 1 elementary 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 Jones County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,638 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending. See how Mississippi compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 48.2% local, 32.6% state, and 19.2% 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 32/100, ranked #121 of 146 in Mississippi against a state average of 51, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 6 schools offering Advanced Placement (11 AP courses district-wide), a 405.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 52.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 81.2% African American, 13.0% Hispanic or Latino, 2.0% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Laurel High School, with a diversity index of 35.9/100.
Its largest campus is Laurel High School, enrolling 732 students (30% of the district's total enrollment).
Laurel High School accounts for 27.0% of all Laurel School District student enrollment
That concentration means Laurel 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.
Laurel School District school enrollment varies 2.9× across entities
Laurel School District school enrollment ranges from 253 students (lowest) to 732 students (highest), a spread of 479 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.
Laurel School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 100.0% 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). Eligibility here is a supermajority of the population — well past the 75% concentration-grant threshold that unlocks extra funding 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.
Laurel School District student-counselor ratio is 405:1 — 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.
Laurel School District chronic absenteeism rate is 52.4% — 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.
Laurel School District has 6 schools, including 1 high, 3 combined, 1 middle, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 2,712 students.
How much does Laurel School District spend per student?
Laurel School District spends $10,638 per student. The district has an equity score of 32/100, ranking #121 in Mississippi.
What is the demographic composition of Laurel School District?
Laurel School District students are 81.2% African American, 13.0% Hispanic or Latino, 2.0% White, 0.1% Asian, averaged across 6 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Laurel School District?
Laurel School District has an equity score of 32/100, ranking #121 out of 146 districts in Mississippi.