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Orono, Maine - 3 schools
An equity score of 53/100 ranks Rsu 26 #52 of 131 districts in Maine (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,406 per pupil, Rsu 26 ranks #96 of 203 Maine districts by per-pupil spending (Maine districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
835
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$18,406
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Rsu 26 operates 3 public schools serving 835 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Maine. The school portfolio breaks down into 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 Penobscot County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,406 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 203 Maine districts by per-pupil spending. See how Maine compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 54.7% local, 38.1% state, and 7.2% 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 53/100, ranked #52 of 131 in Maine 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 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (10 AP courses district-wide), a 219.5:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 21.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 83.1% White, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 3.6% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Asa C Adams School, with a diversity index of 33.5/100.
Its largest campus is Orono High School, enrolling 337 students (41% of the district's total enrollment).
Orono High School accounts for 40.4% of all Rsu 26 student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Rsu 26-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.
Rsu 26 school enrollment varies 2.2× across entities
Rsu 26 school enrollment ranges from 154 students (lowest) to 337 students (highest), a spread of 183 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.
Rsu 26 student-counselor ratio is 220:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Rsu 26 chronic absenteeism rate is 21.0% — 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 Rsu 26 is typically wider than the Rsu 26-aggregate figure suggests.