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Petal, Mississippi - 5 schools
An equity score of 28/100 ranks Petal School Dist #131 of 146 districts in Mississippi (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,778 per pupil, Petal School Dist ranks #131 of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending (Mississippi districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,392
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$9,778
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Petal School Dist operates 5 public schools serving 4,392 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Mississippi. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 1 high, 1 combined, 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 Forrest County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,778 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending. See how Mississippi compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 30.0% local, 51.0% state, and 19.0% 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 28/100, ranked #131 of 146 in Mississippi against a state average of 51, 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 (14 AP courses district-wide), a 674.1:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 14.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 68.7% White, 17.7% African American, 8.3% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Petal Primary School, with a diversity index of 50.9/100.
Its largest campus is Petal High School, enrolling 1,324 students (31% of the district's total enrollment).
Petal High School accounts for 30.1% of all Petal School Dist student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Petal School Dist-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.
Petal School Dist school enrollment varies 2.1× across entities
Petal School Dist school enrollment ranges from 632 students (lowest) to 1,324 students (highest), a spread of 692 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.
Petal School Dist has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 59.0% 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). Areas above 75% eligibility receive concentration grants 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.
Petal School Dist student-counselor ratio is 674:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Petal School Dist chronic absenteeism rate is 14.5% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Petal School Dist has 5 schools, including 1 high, 1 combined, 1 middle, 2 elementary. Total enrollment is 4,392 students.
How much does Petal School Dist spend per student?
Petal School Dist spends $9,778 per student. The district has an equity score of 28/100, ranking #131 in Mississippi.
What is the demographic composition of Petal School Dist?
Petal School Dist students are 68.7% White, 17.7% African American, 8.3% Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% Asian, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Petal School Dist?
Petal School Dist has an equity score of 28/100, ranking #131 out of 146 districts in Mississippi.