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New Castle, Pennsylvania - 4 schools
An equity score of 69/100 ranks New Castle Area Sd #116 of 648 districts in Pennsylvania (state average 49). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,420 per pupil, New Castle Area Sd ranks #226 of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending (Pennsylvania districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,003
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$18,420
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
New Castle Area Sd operates 4 public schools serving 3,003 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Pennsylvania. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 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 Lawrence County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,420 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending. See how Pennsylvania compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 14.9% local, 58.9% state, and 26.2% 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 69/100, ranked #116 of 648 in Pennsylvania against a state average of 49, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 625.5:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 51.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 49.3% White, 20.4% African American, 7.9% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Harry W Lockley Early Learning Center, with a diversity index of 67.8/100.
Its largest campus is New Castle Shs, enrolling 740 students (26% of the district's total enrollment).
New Castle Shs accounts for 24.6% of all New Castle Area Sd student enrollment
That concentration means New Castle Area Sd-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.
New Castle Area Sd has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 99.9% 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). 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.
New Castle Area Sd student-counselor ratio is 626:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 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.
New Castle Area Sd chronic absenteeism rate is 51.8% — 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.
New Castle Area Sd has 4 schools, including 1 high, 2 elementary, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 3,003 students.
How much does New Castle Area Sd spend per student?
New Castle Area Sd spends $18,420 per student. The district has an equity score of 69/100, ranking #116 in Pennsylvania.
What is the demographic composition of New Castle Area Sd?
New Castle Area Sd students are 49.3% White, 20.4% African American, 7.9% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% Asian, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for New Castle Area Sd?
New Castle Area Sd has an equity score of 69/100, ranking #116 out of 648 districts in Pennsylvania.