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Gila Bend, Arizona - 1 schools
At $22,038 per pupil, Paloma School District (4255) ranks #54 of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending (Arizona districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
112
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$22,038
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Paloma School District (4255) operates 1 public schools serving 112 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arizona. The school portfolio breaks down into 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 Maricopa County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $22,038 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the top 64 of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arizona compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 80.3% local, 6.9% state, and 12.8% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers.
a 119:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 32.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 88.2% Hispanic or Latino, 4.2% White, 3.4% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Kiser Elementary School, enrolling 119 students (100% of the district's total enrollment).
Kiser Elementary School accounts for 100.0% of all Paloma School District (4255) student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Paloma School District (4255) a distant remainder — means Paloma School District (4255)-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.
Paloma School District (4255) has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 67.9% 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 approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. 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.
Paloma School District (4255) student-counselor ratio is 119:1 — 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.
Paloma School District (4255) chronic absenteeism rate is 32.8% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Paloma School District (4255)'s own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Arizona
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Paloma School District (4255)?
Paloma School District (4255) has 1 school, including 1 combined. Total enrollment is 112 students.
How much does Paloma School District (4255) spend per student?
Paloma School District (4255) spends $22,038 per student.
What is the demographic composition of Paloma School District (4255)?
Paloma School District (4255) students are 88.2% Hispanic or Latino, 4.2% White, 3.4% African American, averaged across 1 school. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.