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Red Oak, Texas - 8 schools
An equity score of 34/100 ranks Life School #784 of 1044 districts in Texas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,257 per pupil, Life School ranks #1081 of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending (Texas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
5,498
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$10,257
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Life School operates 8 public schools serving 5,498 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Texas. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary, 1 combined, 1 high, 1 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 Ellis County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,257 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 121 of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Texas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 1.5% local, 80.8% state, and 17.7% 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 34/100, ranked #784 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 2 of 8 schools offering Advanced Placement (14 AP courses district-wide), a 488:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 23.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 45.6% Hispanic or Latino, 42.2% African American, 8.4% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Life H S Waxahachie, with a diversity index of 64.7/100.
Its largest campus is Life School Oak Cliff, enrolling 1,483 students (26% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Life School Carrollton, at 283 students, a 5x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Life School Oak Cliff accounts for 25.9% of all Life School student enrollment
That concentration means Life School-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.
Life School school enrollment varies 5.2× across entities
Life School school enrollment ranges from 283 students (lowest) to 1,483 students (highest), a spread of 1,200 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.
Life School has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 57.7% 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 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.
Life School student-counselor ratio is 488:1 — 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.
Life School chronic absenteeism rate is 23.3% — 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 Life School is typically wider than the Life School-aggregate figure suggests.
Life School has 8 schools, including 1 combined, 1 high, 5 elementary, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 5,498 students.
How much does Life School spend per student?
Life School spends $10,257 per student. The district has an equity score of 34/100, ranking #784 in Texas.
What is the demographic composition of Life School?
Life School students are 45.6% Hispanic or Latino, 42.2% African American, 8.4% White, 0.3% Asian, averaged across 8 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Life School?
Life School has an equity score of 34/100, ranking #784 out of 1044 districts in Texas.