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Palestine, Arkansas - 2 schools
An equity score of 48/100 ranks Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. #137 of 250 districts in Arkansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,177 per pupil, Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. ranks #248 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending (Arkansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
775
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$9,177
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. operates 2 public schools serving 775 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arkansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 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 St. Francis County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,177 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 26 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arkansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 19.9% local, 65.7% state, and 14.3% 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 48/100, ranked #137 of 250 in Arkansas against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 318.5:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 26.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 84.7% White, 10.3% African American, 2.9% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Palestine-Wheatley Elem. Sch., enrolling 448 students (54% of the district's total enrollment).
Palestine-Wheatley Elem. Sch. accounts for 54.2% of all Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. a distant remainder — means Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist.-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.
Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 99.2% 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). Eligibility here is a supermajority of the population — well past the 75% concentration-grant threshold that unlocks extra funding 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.
Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. student-counselor ratio is 319:1 — near the typical range (US average ~408) — within the typical range for U.S. public districts
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 Variation between sub-units within Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. is typically wider than the Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist.-aggregate figure suggests.
Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. chronic absenteeism rate is 26.9% — 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 Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist. is typically wider than the Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist.-aggregate figure suggests.
Comparisons are relative to Palestine-Wheatley Sch. Dist.'s own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Arkansas
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.