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Shelton, Washington - 3 schools
An equity score of 56/100 ranks Pioneer School District #92 of 238 districts in Washington (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,907 per pupil, Pioneer School District ranks #172 of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending (Washington districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
759
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$16,907
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Pioneer School District operates 3 public schools serving 759 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Washington. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 1 middle, 1 elementary 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 Mason County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,907 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending. See how Washington compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 34.2% local, 51.5% state, and 14.3% 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 56/100, ranked #92 of 238 in Washington against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 366:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 7.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 69.6% White, 20.2% Hispanic or Latino, 1.6% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Pioneer Elementary School, enrolling 482 students (65% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Pioneer Virtual Academy, at 15 students, a 32x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Pioneer Elementary School accounts for 63.5% of all Pioneer School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Pioneer School District a distant remainder — means Pioneer School District-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.
Pioneer School District school enrollment varies 32× across entities
Pioneer School District school enrollment ranges from 15 students (lowest) to 482 students (highest), a spread of 467 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity, the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Pioneer School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 63.1% 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 approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. 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.
Pioneer School District student-counselor ratio is 366:1 — 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.
Pioneer School District chronic absenteeism rate is 7.8% — 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.
Pioneer School District has 3 schools, including 1 combined, 1 middle, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 759 students.
How much does Pioneer School District spend per student?
Pioneer School District spends $16,907 per student. The district has an equity score of 56/100, ranking #92 in Washington.
What is the demographic composition of Pioneer School District?
Pioneer School District students are 69.6% White, 20.2% Hispanic or Latino, 1.6% African American, 0.9% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Pioneer School District?
Pioneer School District has an equity score of 56/100, ranking #92 out of 238 districts in Washington.