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Hunter, North Dakota - 3 schools
An equity score of 23/100 ranks Northern Cass 97 #96 of 101 districts in North Dakota (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,445 per pupil, Northern Cass 97 ranks #157 of 168 North Dakota districts by per-pupil spending (North Dakota districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
690
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$12,445
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Northern Cass 97 operates 3 public schools serving 690 students, placing it among the smallest districts in North Dakota. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 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 Cass County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,445 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 17 of 168 North Dakota districts by per-pupil spending. See how North Dakota compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 34.1% local, 56.2% state, and 9.6% 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 23/100, ranked #96 of 101 in North Dakota against a state average of 51, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (2 AP courses district-wide), a 199.8:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 5.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 98.0% White, 0.8% African American, 0.7% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Northern Cass Middle School, with a diversity index of 4.7/100.
Northern Cass Elementary School accounts for 48.3% of all Northern Cass 97 student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Northern Cass 97 a distant remainder — means Northern Cass 97-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.
Northern Cass 97 school enrollment varies 2.1× across entities
Northern Cass 97 school enrollment ranges from 169 students (lowest) to 350 students (highest), a spread of 181 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.
Northern Cass 97 student-counselor ratio is 200:1 — 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.
Northern Cass 97 chronic absenteeism rate is 5.1% — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 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.