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Belfast, Maine - 7 schools
An equity score of 61/100 ranks Rsu 71 #40 of 131 districts in Maine (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $20,461 per pupil, Rsu 71 ranks #67 of 203 Maine districts by per-pupil spending (Maine districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,456
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$20,461
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Rsu 71 operates 7 public schools serving 1,456 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Maine. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 combined, 2 elementary, 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 Waldo County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $20,461 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 54.8% local, 42.6% state, and 2.6% 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 61/100, ranked #40 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 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (10 AP courses district-wide), a 346:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 26.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 90.5% White, 3.2% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Captain Albert W. Stevens School, with a diversity index of 24.2/100.
Its largest campus is Belfast Area High School, enrolling 476 students (34% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Kermit S Nickerson School, at 58 students, a 8x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Belfast Area High School accounts for 32.7% of all Rsu 71 student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Rsu 71-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 71 school enrollment varies 8.2× across entities
Rsu 71 school enrollment ranges from 58 students (lowest) to 476 students (highest), a spread of 418 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Rsu 71 student-counselor ratio is 346:1 — 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 71 is typically wider than the Rsu 71-aggregate figure suggests.
Rsu 71 chronic absenteeism rate is 26.7% — 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 71 is typically wider than the Rsu 71-aggregate figure suggests.