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Polson, Montana - 3 schools
An equity score of 40/100 ranks Polson Elem #56 of 141 districts in Montana (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,418 per pupil, Polson Elem ranks #338 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending (Montana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,173
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$11,418
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Polson Elem operates 3 public schools serving 1,173 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Montana. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 1 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 Lake County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,418 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending. See how Montana compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 32.6% local, 39.5% state, and 27.9% 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 40/100, ranked #56 of 141 in Montana against a state average of 38, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 278.8:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 65.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 58.1% White, 3.3% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Polson Middle School, with a diversity index of 55.6/100.
Its largest campus is Polson Middle School, enrolling 477 students (44% of the district's total enrollment).
Polson Middle School accounts for 40.7% of all Polson Elem student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Polson Elem-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Polson Elem student-counselor ratio is 279:1 — near the typical range (US average ~408) — within the typical range for U.S. public districts
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 Variation between sub-units within Polson Elem is typically wider than the Polson Elem-aggregate figure suggests.
Polson Elem chronic absenteeism rate is 65.9% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 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.