Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal
records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our
editorial standards & corrections policy, the
methodology behind these numbers, or
report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Marshall, North Carolina - 7 schools
An equity score of 77/100 ranks Madison County Schools #26 of 293 districts in North Carolina (state average 45). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,773 per pupil, Madison County Schools ranks #42 of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending (North Carolina districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,108
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$14,773
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Madison County Schools operates 7 public schools serving 2,108 students, placing it among the smallest districts in North Carolina. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 elementary, 3 high, 1 middle 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 Madison County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,773 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending. See how North Carolina compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 17.7% local, 65.7% state, and 16.6% 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 77/100, ranked #26 of 293 in North Carolina against a state average of 45, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (5 AP courses district-wide), a 233:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 46.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 92.2% White, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.2% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Madison Early College High, with a diversity index of 25.6/100.
Its largest campus is Madison Middle School, enrolling 468 students (23% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Madison Velocity Learning Center, at 19 students, a 25x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Madison Middle School accounts for 22.2% of all Madison County Schools student enrollment
That concentration means Madison County Schools-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: middle. 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.
Madison County Schools school enrollment varies 25× across entities
Madison County Schools school enrollment ranges from 19 students (lowest) to 468 students (highest), a spread of 449 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Madison County Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 59.9% 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.
Madison County Schools student-counselor ratio is 233:1 — 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.
Madison County Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 46.9% — 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.
Madison County Schools has 7 schools, including 1 middle, 3 elementary, 3 high. Total enrollment is 2,108 students.
How much does Madison County Schools spend per student?
Madison County Schools spends $14,773 per student. The district has an equity score of 77/100, ranking #26 in North Carolina.
What is the demographic composition of Madison County Schools?
Madison County Schools students are 92.2% White, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% African American, averaged across 7 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Madison County Schools?
Madison County Schools has an equity score of 77/100, ranking #26 out of 293 districts in North Carolina.