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Dixfield, Maine - 3 schools
An equity score of 59/100 ranks Rsu 56 #44 of 131 districts in Maine (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,771 per pupil, Rsu 56 ranks #89 of 203 Maine districts by per-pupil spending (Maine districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
764
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$18,771
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Rsu 56 operates 3 public schools serving 764 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Maine. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 1 high, 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 Oxford County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,771 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 37.5% local, 46.5% state, and 16.0% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 59/100, ranked #44 of 131 in Maine against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (4 AP courses district-wide), a 324:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 29.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 91.7% White, 3.0% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is T W Kelly Dirigo Middle School, with a diversity index of 17.6/100.
Its largest campus is Dirigo Elementary School, enrolling 324 students (45% of the district's total enrollment).
Dirigo Elementary School accounts for 42.4% of all Rsu 56 student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Rsu 56-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 56 student-counselor ratio is 324:1 — 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 Rsu 56 is typically wider than the Rsu 56-aggregate figure suggests.
Rsu 56 chronic absenteeism rate is 29.5% — 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 Rsu 56 is typically wider than the Rsu 56-aggregate figure suggests.