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Mcgehee, Arkansas - 3 schools
An equity score of 58/100 ranks Mcgehee School District #89 of 250 districts in Arkansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,956 per pupil, Mcgehee School District ranks #67 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending (Arkansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,098
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$12,956
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Mcgehee School District operates 3 public schools serving 1,098 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arkansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 1 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 Desha County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,956 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 38.2% local, 38.8% state, and 23.0% 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 58/100, ranked #89 of 250 in Arkansas against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (5 AP courses district-wide), a 365.2:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 9.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 45.8% White, 43.2% African American, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Mcgehee Elementary School, with a diversity index of 59.5/100.
Its largest campus is Mcgehee Elementary School, enrolling 547 students (49% of the district's total enrollment).
Mcgehee Elementary School accounts for 48.8% of all Mcgehee School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Mcgehee School District a distant remainder — means Mcgehee School District-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.
Mcgehee School District school enrollment varies 2.2× across entities
Mcgehee School District school enrollment ranges from 248 students (lowest) to 547 students (highest), a spread of 299 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.
Mcgehee School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 100.0% 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.
Mcgehee School District student-counselor ratio is 365:1 — 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.
Mcgehee School District chronic absenteeism rate is 9.4% — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Mcgehee School District has 3 schools, including 1 combined, 1 high, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 1,098 students.
How much does Mcgehee School District spend per student?
Mcgehee School District spends $12,956 per student. The district has an equity score of 58/100, ranking #89 in Arkansas.
What is the demographic composition of Mcgehee School District?
Mcgehee School District students are 45.8% White, 43.2% African American, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Mcgehee School District?
Mcgehee School District has an equity score of 58/100, ranking #89 out of 250 districts in Arkansas.