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Pascagoula, Mississippi - 17 schools
An equity score of 64/100 ranks Pascagoula-Gautier School District #40 of 146 districts in Mississippi (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,596 per pupil, Pascagoula-Gautier School District ranks #19 of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending (Mississippi districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
6,565
Total Enrollment
17
Schools
$14,596
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Pascagoula-Gautier School District operates 17 public schools serving 6,565 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Mississippi. The school portfolio breaks down into 7 combined, 5 elementary, 3 high, 2 middle schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Jackson County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,596 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending. See how Mississippi compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 47.1% local, 31.8% state, and 21.1% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 64/100, ranked #40 of 146 in Mississippi against a state average of 51, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 2 of 17 schools offering Advanced Placement (25 AP courses district-wide), a 249.8:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 26.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 40.1% African American, 33.9% White, 19.5% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Martin Bluff, with a diversity index of 70.5/100.
Its largest campus is Pascagoula High School, enrolling 1,127 students (17% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Exceptional School, at 44 students, a 26x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Pascagoula High School accounts for 17.1% of all Pascagoula-Gautier School District student enrollment
That concentration means Pascagoula-Gautier School District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. 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.
Pascagoula-Gautier School District school enrollment varies 26× across entities
Pascagoula-Gautier School District school enrollment ranges from 44 students (lowest) to 1,127 students (highest), a spread of 1,083 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Pascagoula-Gautier School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 100.0% 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.
Pascagoula-Gautier School District student-counselor ratio is 250:1 — 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.
Pascagoula-Gautier School District chronic absenteeism rate is 26.3% — 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 Pascagoula-Gautier School District is typically wider than the Pascagoula-Gautier School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Comparisons are relative to Pascagoula-Gautier School District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Mississippi
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Pascagoula-Gautier School District?
Pascagoula-Gautier School District has 17 schools, including 3 high, 2 middle, 5 elementary, 7 combined. Total enrollment is 6,565 students.
How much does Pascagoula-Gautier School District spend per student?
Pascagoula-Gautier School District spends $14,596 per student. The district has an equity score of 64/100, ranking #40 in Mississippi.
What is the demographic composition of Pascagoula-Gautier School District?
Pascagoula-Gautier School District students are 40.1% African American, 33.9% White, 19.5% Hispanic or Latino, 0.5% Asian, averaged across 17 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Pascagoula-Gautier School District?
Pascagoula-Gautier School District has an equity score of 64/100, ranking #40 out of 146 districts in Mississippi.