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Merkel, Texas - 3 schools
An equity score of 53/100 ranks Merkel Isd #459 of 1044 districts in Texas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,162 per pupil, Merkel Isd ranks #751 of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending (Texas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,140
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$12,162
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Merkel Isd operates 3 public schools serving 1,140 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Texas. 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 Taylor County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,162 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Texas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 35.6% local, 51.4% state, and 13.0% 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 53/100, ranked #459 of 1044 in Texas 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 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (4 AP courses district-wide), a 363.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 21.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 69.2% White, 26.1% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Merkel Middle, with a diversity index of 47.2/100.
Its largest campus is Merkel El, enrolling 563 students (52% of the district's total enrollment).
Merkel El accounts for 49.4% of all Merkel Isd student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Merkel Isd a distant remainder — means Merkel Isd-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.
Merkel Isd school enrollment varies 2.3× across entities
Merkel Isd school enrollment ranges from 246 students (lowest) to 563 students (highest), a spread of 317 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.
Merkel Isd student-counselor ratio is 363:1 — 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.
Merkel Isd chronic absenteeism rate is 21.9% — 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 Merkel Isd is typically wider than the Merkel Isd-aggregate figure suggests.