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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
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Southborough, Massachusetts - 5 schools
An equity score of 46/100 ranks Northborough #105 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $22,553 per pupil, Northborough ranks #163 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,596
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$22,553
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Northborough operates 5 public schools serving 1,596 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Massachusetts. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 elementary, 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 Worcester County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $22,553 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending. See how Massachusetts compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 51.6% local, 42.1% state, and 6.3% 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 46/100, ranked #105 of 362 in Massachusetts against a state average of 38, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 136.3:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 19.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 63.9% White, 14.4% Asian, 12.7% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Marguerite E Peaslee, with a diversity index of 60.6/100.
Robert E. Melican Middle School accounts for 34.1% of all Northborough student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Northborough-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: middle. 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.
Northborough school enrollment varies 2.3× across entities
Northborough school enrollment ranges from 238 students (lowest) to 545 students (highest), a spread of 307 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.
Northborough student-counselor ratio is 136:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 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.
Northborough chronic absenteeism rate is 19.3% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
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 Variation between sub-units within Northborough is typically wider than the Northborough-aggregate figure suggests.