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Pella, Iowa - 5 schools
An equity score of 28/100 ranks Pella Comm School District #253 of 303 districts in Iowa (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,689 per pupil, Pella Comm School District ranks #246 of 327 Iowa districts by per-pupil spending (Iowa districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,491
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$11,689
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Pella Comm School District operates 5 public schools serving 2,491 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Iowa. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined, 1 high, 1 elementary, 1 middle 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 Marion County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,689 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 327 Iowa districts by per-pupil spending. See how Iowa compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 48.5% local, 43.6% state, and 7.9% 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 28/100, ranked #253 of 303 in Iowa against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 5 schools offering Advanced Placement (3 AP courses district-wide), a 419.2:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 8.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 86.5% White, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 1.6% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Lincoln Elementary School, with a diversity index of 30.2/100.
Its largest campus is Pella High School, enrolling 801 students (34% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Lincoln Elementary School, at 254 students, a 3x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Pella High School accounts for 32.2% of all Pella Comm School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Pella Comm 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.
Pella Comm School District school enrollment varies 3.2× across entities
Pella Comm School District school enrollment ranges from 254 students (lowest) to 801 students (highest), a spread of 547 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Pella Comm School District student-counselor ratio is 419:1 — 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.
Pella Comm School District chronic absenteeism rate is 8.7% — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 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.
How many schools are in Pella Comm School District?
Pella Comm School District has 5 schools, including 1 high, 1 elementary, 2 combined, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 2,491 students.
How much does Pella Comm School District spend per student?
Pella Comm School District spends $11,689 per student. The district has an equity score of 28/100, ranking #253 in Iowa.
What is the demographic composition of Pella Comm School District?
Pella Comm School District students are 86.5% White, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 1.6% African American, 1.5% Asian, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Pella Comm School District?
Pella Comm School District has an equity score of 28/100, ranking #253 out of 303 districts in Iowa.