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Palmer, Massachusetts - 2 schools
An equity score of 51/100 ranks Palmer #59 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,790 per pupil, Palmer ranks #304 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,154
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$18,790
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Palmer operates 2 public schools serving 1,154 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Massachusetts. 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 Hampden County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,790 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending. See how Massachusetts compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 23.6% local, 64.8% state, and 11.6% 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 51/100, ranked #59 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.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 2 schools offering Advanced Placement (7 AP courses district-wide), a 147.5:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 33.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 72.3% White, 16.7% Hispanic or Latino, 3.1% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Old Mill Pond, enrolling 677 students (62% of the district's total enrollment).
Old Mill Pond accounts for 58.7% of all Palmer student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Palmer a distant remainder — means Palmer-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.
Palmer student-counselor ratio is 148:1 — 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.
Palmer chronic absenteeism rate is 33.5% — 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.