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Little Rock, Arkansas - 39 schools
An equity score of 44/100 ranks Little Rock School District #157 of 250 districts in Arkansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,597 per pupil, Little Rock School District ranks #34 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending (Arkansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
21,456
Total Enrollment
39
Schools
$14,597
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Little Rock School District operates 39 public schools serving 21,456 students, placing it in the mid-size range in Arkansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 18 elementary, 11 combined, 6 middle, 4 high schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage 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 Pulaski County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,597 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arkansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 52.7% local, 26.7% state, and 20.7% 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 44/100, ranked #157 of 250 in Arkansas against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 5 of 39 schools offering Advanced Placement (71 AP courses district-wide), a 379.8:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 45.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 61.7% African American, 17.9% White, 14.5% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Fair Park Early Childhood Ctr, with a diversity index of 68.0/100.
Its largest campus is Central High School, enrolling 2,371 students (11% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Fair Park Early Childhood Ctr, at 195 students, a 12x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Little Rock School District school enrollment varies 12× across entities
Little Rock School District school enrollment ranges from 195 students (lowest) to 2,371 students (highest), a spread of 2,176 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Little Rock School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 62.3% 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.
Little Rock School District student-counselor ratio is 380:1 — 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.
Little Rock School District chronic absenteeism rate is 45.2% — 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.
How many schools are in Little Rock School District?
Little Rock School District has 39 schools, including 4 high, 11 combined, 18 elementary, 6 middle. Total enrollment is 21,456 students.
How much does Little Rock School District spend per student?
Little Rock School District spends $14,597 per student. The district has an equity score of 44/100, ranking #157 in Arkansas.
What is the demographic composition of Little Rock School District?
Little Rock School District students are 61.7% African American, 17.9% White, 14.5% Hispanic or Latino, 2.4% Asian, averaged across 39 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Little Rock School District?
Little Rock School District has an equity score of 44/100, ranking #157 out of 250 districts in Arkansas.