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Altair, Texas - 7 schools
An equity score of 38/100 ranks Rice Cisd #722 of 1044 districts in Texas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,682 per pupil, Rice Cisd ranks #639 of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending (Texas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,286
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$12,682
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Rice Cisd operates 7 public schools serving 1,286 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Texas. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 elementary, 2 high, 1 middle, 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 Colorado County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,682 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Texas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 59.5% local, 25.8% state, and 14.8% 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 38/100, ranked #722 of 1044 in Texas against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (3 AP courses district-wide), a 292.3:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 28.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 57.6% Hispanic or Latino, 24.5% White, 13.4% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Rice Challenge Academy, with a diversity index of 66.9/100.
Its largest campus is Rice H S, enrolling 348 students (27% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Sheridan El, at 82 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Rice H S accounts for 26.6% of all Rice Cisd student enrollment
That concentration means Rice Cisd-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.
Rice Cisd school enrollment varies 4.2× across entities
Rice Cisd school enrollment ranges from 82 students (lowest) to 348 students (highest), a spread of 266 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.
Rice Cisd has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 79.4% 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). Areas above 75% eligibility — including this one — receive concentration grants 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.
Rice Cisd student-counselor ratio is 292:1 — 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 Rice Cisd is typically wider than the Rice Cisd-aggregate figure suggests.
Rice Cisd chronic absenteeism rate is 28.5% — 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 Rice Cisd is typically wider than the Rice Cisd-aggregate figure suggests.