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Hutchinson, Kansas - 5 schools
An equity score of 68/100 ranks Nickerson #49 of 250 districts in Kansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,581 per pupil, Nickerson ranks #197 of 285 Kansas districts by per-pupil spending (Kansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,089
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$13,581
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Nickerson operates 5 public schools serving 1,089 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Kansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 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 Reno County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,581 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 285 Kansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Kansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 14.9% local, 76.8% state, and 8.3% 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 68/100, ranked #49 of 250 in Kansas against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 193.4:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 40.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 83.2% White, 10.8% Hispanic or Latino, 0.8% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Central State Academy, with a diversity index of 33.9/100.
Its largest campus is South Hutchinson Elem, enrolling 326 students (32% of the district's total enrollment).
South Hutchinson Elem accounts for 29.9% of all Nickerson student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Nickerson-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.
Nickerson school enrollment varies 3.0× across entities
Nickerson school enrollment ranges from 110 students (lowest) to 326 students (highest), a spread of 216 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.
Nickerson has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 52.1% 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 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.
Nickerson student-counselor ratio is 193:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Nickerson chronic absenteeism rate is 40.5% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.