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Lester Prairie, Minnesota - 2 schools
An equity score of 15/100 ranks Lester Prairie Public School Dist. #405 of 410 districts in Minnesota (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,862 per pupil, Lester Prairie Public School Dist. ranks #443 of 504 Minnesota districts by per-pupil spending (Minnesota districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
487
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$11,862
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Lester Prairie Public School Dist. operates 2 public schools serving 487 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Minnesota. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined 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 Mcleod County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,862 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 504 Minnesota districts by per-pupil spending. See how Minnesota compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 30.0% local, 59.9% state, and 10.1% 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 15/100, ranked #405 of 410 in Minnesota against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 182:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 28.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 73.5% White, 22.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Lester Prairie Secondary, enrolling 222 students (51% of the district's total enrollment).
Lester Prairie Secondary accounts for 45.6% of all Lester Prairie Public School Dist. student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Lester Prairie Public School Dist. a distant remainder — means Lester Prairie Public School Dist.-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. 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.
Lester Prairie Public School Dist. student-counselor ratio is 182:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Lester Prairie Public School Dist. chronic absenteeism rate is 28.7% — 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 Lester Prairie Public School Dist. is typically wider than the Lester Prairie Public School Dist.-aggregate figure suggests.
Comparisons are relative to Lester Prairie Public School Dist.'s own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Minnesota
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How many schools are in Lester Prairie Public School Dist.?
Lester Prairie Public School Dist. has 2 schools, including 2 combined. Total enrollment is 487 students.
How much does Lester Prairie Public School Dist. spend per student?
Lester Prairie Public School Dist. spends $11,862 per student. The district has an equity score of 15/100, ranking #405 in Minnesota.
What is the demographic composition of Lester Prairie Public School Dist.?
Lester Prairie Public School Dist. students are 73.5% White, 22.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% African American, averaged across 2 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Lester Prairie Public School Dist.?
Lester Prairie Public School Dist. has an equity score of 15/100, ranking #405 out of 410 districts in Minnesota.