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.
Mountainside, New Jersey - 2 schools
An equity score of 26/100 ranks Mountainside School District #520 of 587 districts in New Jersey (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $22,138 per pupil, Mountainside School District ranks #450 of 649 New Jersey districts by per-pupil spending (New Jersey districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
747
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$22,138
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Mountainside School District operates 2 public schools serving 747 students, placing it among the smallest districts in New Jersey. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary, 1 combined 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 Union County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $22,138 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 649 New Jersey districts by per-pupil spending. See how New Jersey compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 77.0% local, 19.5% state, and 3.4% 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 26/100, ranked #520 of 587 in New Jersey against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 374:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 5.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 68.3% White, 12.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Deerfield Elementary School, enrolling 483 students (65% of the district's total enrollment).
Deerfield Elementary School accounts for 64.6% of all Mountainside School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Mountainside School District a distant remainder — means Mountainside School District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Mountainside School District student-counselor ratio is 374:1 — 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.
Mountainside School District chronic absenteeism rate is 5.0% — 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.
How many schools are in Mountainside School District?
Mountainside School District has 2 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 747 students.
How much does Mountainside School District spend per student?
Mountainside School District spends $22,138 per student. The district has an equity score of 26/100, ranking #520 in New Jersey.
What is the demographic composition of Mountainside School District?
Mountainside School District students are 68.3% White, 12.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 1.0% African American, averaged across 2 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Mountainside School District?
Mountainside School District has an equity score of 26/100, ranking #520 out of 587 districts in New Jersey.