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Caribou, Maine - 2 schools
An equity score of 52/100 ranks Rsu 39 #55 of 131 districts in Maine (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,915 per pupil, Rsu 39 ranks #123 of 203 Maine districts by per-pupil spending (Maine districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,220
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$16,915
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Rsu 39 operates 2 public schools serving 1,220 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Maine. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 1 high 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 Aroostook County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,915 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 203 Maine districts by per-pupil spending. See how Maine compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 28.0% local, 59.3% state, and 12.7% 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 52/100, ranked #55 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.
a 526.8:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 29.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 86.7% White, 2.8% Hispanic or Latino, 1.7% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Caribou Community School, enrolling 752 students (63% of the district's total enrollment).
Caribou Community School accounts for 61.6% of all Rsu 39 student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Rsu 39 a distant remainder — means Rsu 39-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.
Rsu 39 student-counselor ratio is 527:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Rsu 39 chronic absenteeism rate is 29.7% — 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 39 is typically wider than the Rsu 39-aggregate figure suggests.