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Natchitoches, Louisiana - 14 schools
An equity score of 58/100 ranks Natchitoches Parish #62 of 175 districts in Louisiana (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,353 per pupil, Natchitoches Parish ranks #89 of 188 Louisiana districts by per-pupil spending (Louisiana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
5,527
Total Enrollment
14
Schools
$15,353
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Natchitoches Parish operates 14 public schools serving 5,527 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Louisiana. The school portfolio breaks down into 9 combined, 2 elementary, 2 middle, 1 high schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly 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 Natchitoches Parish.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,353 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 188 Louisiana districts by per-pupil spending. See how Louisiana compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 42.8% local, 36.4% state, and 20.8% 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 #62 of 175 in Louisiana against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 384:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 13.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 49.7% African American, 42.2% White, 3.5% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Fairview-Alpha Elementary & Junior High School, with a diversity index of 55.9/100.
Natchitoches Central High School accounts for 21.5% of all Natchitoches Parish student enrollment
That concentration means Natchitoches Parish-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. 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.
Natchitoches Parish school enrollment varies 32× across entities
Natchitoches Parish school enrollment ranges from 37 students (lowest) to 1,188 students (highest), a spread of 1,151 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity, the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Natchitoches Parish has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 75.6% 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 — including this one — 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.
Natchitoches Parish student-counselor ratio is 384:1 — 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.
Natchitoches Parish chronic absenteeism rate is 13.2% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.