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Colfax, North Dakota - 2 schools
An equity score of 38/100 ranks Richland 44 #71 of 101 districts in North Dakota (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,098 per pupil, Richland 44 ranks #117 of 168 North Dakota districts by per-pupil spending (North Dakota districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
286
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$15,098
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Richland 44 operates 2 public schools serving 286 students, placing it among the smallest districts in North Dakota. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 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 Richland County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,098 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 168 North Dakota districts by per-pupil spending. See how North Dakota compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 33.0% local, 57.1% state, and 9.9% 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 38/100, ranked #71 of 101 in North Dakota against a state average of 51, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 155:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 10.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 93.4% White, 3.0% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Richland Elementary School, enrolling 184 students (59% of the district's total enrollment).
Richland Elementary School accounts for 59.4% of all Richland 44 student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Richland 44 a distant remainder — means Richland 44-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.
Richland 44 student-counselor ratio is 155:1 — 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.
Richland 44 chronic absenteeism rate is 10.1% — 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.