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Park River, North Dakota - 2 schools
An equity score of 31/100 ranks Park River Area 8 #86 of 101 districts in North Dakota (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,221 per pupil, Park River Area 8 ranks #165 of 168 North Dakota districts by per-pupil spending (North Dakota districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
485
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$11,221
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Park River Area 8 operates 2 public schools serving 485 students, placing it among the smallest districts in North Dakota. 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 Walsh County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,221 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 28.7% local, 53.3% state, and 18.0% 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 31/100, ranked #86 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.
a 235:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 21.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 90.4% White, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 1.1% Asian across the district's schools.
Park River Area Elementary School accounts for 56.7% of all Park River Area 8 student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Park River Area 8 a distant remainder — means Park River Area 8-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.
Park River Area 8 student-counselor ratio is 235:1 — 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.
Park River Area 8 chronic absenteeism rate is 21.5% — 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 Park River Area 8 is typically wider than the Park River Area 8-aggregate figure suggests.