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Portsmouth, Rhode Island - 4 schools
An equity score of 36/100 ranks Portsmouth #43 of 53 districts in Rhode Island (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,687 per pupil, Portsmouth ranks #39 of 60 Rhode Island districts by per-pupil spending (Rhode Island districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,183
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$18,687
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Portsmouth operates 4 public schools serving 2,183 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Rhode Island. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 1 high, 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 Newport County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,687 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 60 Rhode Island districts by per-pupil spending. See how Rhode Island compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 78.4% local, 13.5% state, and 8.1% 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 36/100, ranked #43 of 53 in Rhode Island 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 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (18 AP courses district-wide), a 297:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 12.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 80.1% White, 8.9% Hispanic or Latino, 2.3% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Melville School, with a diversity index of 39.4/100.
Its largest campus is Portsmouth High School, enrolling 785 students (37% of the district's total enrollment).
Portsmouth High School accounts for 36.0% of all Portsmouth student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Portsmouth-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.
Portsmouth school enrollment varies 2.5× across entities
Portsmouth school enrollment ranges from 316 students (lowest) to 785 students (highest), a spread of 469 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.
Portsmouth student-counselor ratio is 297:1 — 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 Portsmouth is typically wider than the Portsmouth-aggregate figure suggests.
Portsmouth chronic absenteeism rate is 12.5% — 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.