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West Columbia, South Carolina - 12 schools
An equity score of 55/100 ranks Lexington 02 #34 of 73 districts in South Carolina (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,320 per pupil, Lexington 02 ranks #26 of 74 South Carolina districts by per-pupil spending (South Carolina districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
8,626
Total Enrollment
12
Schools
$14,320
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Lexington 02 operates 12 public schools serving 8,626 students, placing it among the smaller districts in South Carolina. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 combined, 4 middle, 2 high, 2 elementary 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 Lexington County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,320 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 74 South Carolina districts by per-pupil spending. See how South Carolina compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 41.1% local, 41.7% state, and 17.2% 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 55/100, ranked #34 of 73 in South Carolina against a state average of 51, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 2 of 12 schools offering Advanced Placement (30 AP courses district-wide), a 415.4:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 29.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 32.3% White, 31.3% African American, 28.6% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Cyril B. Busbee Creative Arts Academy, with a diversity index of 72.4/100.
Its largest campus is Airport High, enrolling 1,272 students (15% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Congaree Elementary, at 352 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Lexington 02 school enrollment varies 3.6× across entities
Lexington 02 school enrollment ranges from 352 students (lowest) to 1,272 students (highest), a spread of 920 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.
Lexington 02 has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 93.4% 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.
Lexington 02 student-counselor ratio is 415:1 — 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.
Lexington 02 chronic absenteeism rate is 29.6% — 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 Lexington 02 is typically wider than the Lexington 02-aggregate figure suggests.