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Pelican Rapids, Minnesota - 2 schools
An equity score of 50/100 ranks Pelican Rapids Public Schools #200 of 410 districts in Minnesota (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,471 per pupil, Pelican Rapids Public Schools ranks #319 of 504 Minnesota districts by per-pupil spending (Minnesota districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
865
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$13,471
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Pelican Rapids Public Schools operates 2 public schools serving 865 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Minnesota. 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 Otter Tail County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,471 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 504 Minnesota districts by per-pupil spending. See how Minnesota compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 27.3% local, 54.6% state, and 18.1% 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 50/100, ranked #200 of 410 in Minnesota against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 2 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 421:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 33.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 51.0% White, 34.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Viking Elementary School, enrolling 468 students (56% of the district's total enrollment).
Viking Elementary School accounts for 54.1% of all Pelican Rapids Public Schools student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Pelican Rapids Public Schools a distant remainder — means Pelican Rapids Public Schools-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.
Pelican Rapids Public Schools student-counselor ratio is 421:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Pelican Rapids Public Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 33.3% — 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 Pelican Rapids Public Schools's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Minnesota
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