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Portland, Connecticut - 5 schools
An equity score of 50/100 ranks Portland School District #86 of 174 districts in Connecticut (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $22,480 per pupil, Portland School District ranks #115 of 191 Connecticut districts by per-pupil spending (Connecticut districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,240
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$22,480
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Portland School District operates 5 public schools serving 1,240 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Connecticut. 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 Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $22,480 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 191 Connecticut districts by per-pupil spending. See how Connecticut compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 62.5% local, 31.2% state, and 6.4% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 50/100, ranked #86 of 174 in Connecticut against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 5 schools offering Advanced Placement (10 AP courses district-wide), a 161.3:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 13.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 71.8% White, 17.5% Hispanic or Latino, 4.3% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Portland Middle School, with a diversity index of 51.3/100.
Its largest campus is Portland High School, enrolling 323 students (26% of the district's total enrollment).
Portland High School accounts for 26.0% of all Portland School District student enrollment
That concentration means Portland 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.
Portland School District student-counselor ratio is 161:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 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.
Portland School District chronic absenteeism rate is 13.0% — 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.
Portland School District has 5 schools, including 1 high, 2 elementary, 1 combined, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 1,240 students.
How much does Portland School District spend per student?
Portland School District spends $22,480 per student. The district has an equity score of 50/100, ranking #86 in Connecticut.
What is the demographic composition of Portland School District?
Portland School District students are 71.8% White, 17.5% Hispanic or Latino, 4.3% African American, 1.5% Asian, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Portland School District?
Portland School District has an equity score of 50/100, ranking #86 out of 174 districts in Connecticut.