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Picayune, Mississippi - 9 schools
An equity score of 53/100 ranks Picayune School District #64 of 146 districts in Mississippi (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,953 per pupil, Picayune School District ranks #58 of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending (Mississippi districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,431
Total Enrollment
9
Schools
$11,953
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Picayune School District operates 9 public schools serving 3,431 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Mississippi. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 elementary, 3 combined, 1 high, 1 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 Pearl River County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,953 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 27.2% local, 38.7% state, and 34.0% 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 53/100, ranked #64 of 146 in Mississippi against a state average of 51, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 9 schools offering Advanced Placement (2 AP courses district-wide), a 920:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 23.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 54.7% White, 30.4% African American, 10.3% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Nicholson Elementary School, with a diversity index of 66.0/100.
Its largest campus is Picayune Memorial High School, enrolling 940 students (27% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Early Head Start Rosa Street, at 151 students, a 6x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Picayune Memorial High School accounts for 26.8% of all Picayune School District student enrollment
That concentration means Picayune 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.
Picayune School District school enrollment varies 6.2× across entities
Picayune School District school enrollment ranges from 151 students (lowest) to 940 students (highest), a spread of 789 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.
Picayune 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.
Picayune School District student-counselor ratio is 920:1 — 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.
Picayune School District chronic absenteeism rate is 23.2% — 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 Picayune School District is typically wider than the Picayune School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Picayune School District has 9 schools, including 1 high, 1 middle, 4 elementary, 3 combined. Total enrollment is 3,431 students.
How much does Picayune School District spend per student?
Picayune School District spends $11,953 per student. The district has an equity score of 53/100, ranking #64 in Mississippi.
What is the demographic composition of Picayune School District?
Picayune School District students are 54.7% White, 30.4% African American, 10.3% Hispanic or Latino, 0.9% Asian, averaged across 9 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Picayune School District?
Picayune School District has an equity score of 53/100, ranking #64 out of 146 districts in Mississippi.