Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal
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
editorial standards & corrections policy, the
methodology behind these numbers, or
report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Donaldson, Arkansas - 2 schools
An equity score of 34/100 ranks Ouachita School District #197 of 250 districts in Arkansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,085 per pupil, Ouachita School District ranks #226 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending (Arkansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
550
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$10,085
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Ouachita School District operates 2 public schools serving 550 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arkansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary, 1 combined 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 Hot Spring County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,085 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arkansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 23.4% local, 57.6% state, and 19.0% 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 34/100, ranked #197 of 250 in Arkansas 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 2 schools offering Advanced Placement (4 AP courses district-wide), a 200.8:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 16.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 94.5% White, 1.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.4% Asian across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Ouachita Elementary School, enrolling 280 students (54% of the district's total enrollment).
Ouachita Elementary School accounts for 50.9% of all Ouachita School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Ouachita School District a distant remainder — means Ouachita School District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Ouachita School District student-counselor ratio is 201:1 — 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.
Ouachita School District chronic absenteeism rate is 16.9% — 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 Ouachita School District is typically wider than the Ouachita School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Ouachita School District has 2 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 550 students.
How much does Ouachita School District spend per student?
Ouachita School District spends $10,085 per student. The district has an equity score of 34/100, ranking #197 in Arkansas.
What is the demographic composition of Ouachita School District?
Ouachita School District students are 94.5% White, 1.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.4% Asian, averaged across 2 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Ouachita School District?
Ouachita School District has an equity score of 34/100, ranking #197 out of 250 districts in Arkansas.