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North Branch, Michigan - 4 schools
An equity score of 26/100 ranks North Branch Area Schools #673 of 707 districts in Michigan (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,977 per pupil, North Branch Area Schools ranks #764 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending (Michigan districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,382
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$9,977
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
North Branch Area Schools operates 4 public schools serving 2,382 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Michigan. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 high, 1 combined, 1 elementary 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 Lapeer County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,977 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 83 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending. See how Michigan compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 17.3% local, 71.8% state, and 10.9% 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 26/100, ranked #673 of 707 in Michigan against a state average of 50, notably less 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 (14 AP courses district-wide), a 793.7:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 32.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 90.8% White, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 1.8% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Quest High School, with a diversity index of 21.6/100.
Its largest campus is North Branch Elementary School, enrolling 964 students (40% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Quest High School, at 42 students, a 23x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
North Branch Elementary School accounts for 39.8% of all North Branch Area Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means North Branch Area Schools-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.
North Branch Area Schools school enrollment varies 23× across entities
North Branch Area Schools school enrollment ranges from 42 students (lowest) to 964 students (highest), a spread of 922 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
North Branch Area Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 51.6% 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 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.
North Branch Area Schools student-counselor ratio is 794:1 — 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.
North Branch Area Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 32.6% — 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.
How many schools are in North Branch Area Schools?
North Branch Area Schools has 4 schools, including 1 combined, 1 elementary, 2 high. Total enrollment is 2,382 students.
How much does North Branch Area Schools spend per student?
North Branch Area Schools spends $9,977 per student. The district has an equity score of 26/100, ranking #673 in Michigan.
What is the demographic composition of North Branch Area Schools?
North Branch Area Schools students are 90.8% White, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 1.8% African American, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for North Branch Area Schools?
North Branch Area Schools has an equity score of 26/100, ranking #673 out of 707 districts in Michigan.