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Ruidoso, New Mexico - 4 schools
An equity score of 37/100 ranks Ruidoso Municipal Schools #70 of 98 districts in New Mexico (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,251 per pupil, Ruidoso Municipal Schools ranks #108 of 141 New Mexico districts by per-pupil spending (New Mexico districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,820
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$12,251
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Ruidoso Municipal Schools operates 4 public schools serving 1,820 students, placing it among the smallest districts in New Mexico. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 high, 1 combined, 1 elementary, 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 Lincoln County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,251 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 141 New Mexico districts by per-pupil spending. See how New Mexico compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 22.9% local, 64.3% state, and 12.9% 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 37/100, ranked #70 of 98 in New Mexico against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (4 AP courses district-wide), a 334.5:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 46.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 56.6% Hispanic or Latino, 24.8% White, 1.4% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Sierra Vista Primary, with a diversity index of 61.3/100.
Its largest campus is Ruidoso High, enrolling 527 students (29% of the district's total enrollment).
Ruidoso High accounts for 29.0% of all Ruidoso Municipal Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Ruidoso Municipal Schools-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.
Ruidoso Municipal Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 100.0% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Eligibility here is a supermajority of the population — well past the 75% concentration-grant threshold that unlocks extra funding on top of the basic Title I formula. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Ruidoso Municipal Schools student-counselor ratio is 335:1 — 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 Ruidoso Municipal Schools is typically wider than the Ruidoso Municipal Schools-aggregate figure suggests.
Ruidoso Municipal Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 46.8% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 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.
How many schools are in Ruidoso Municipal Schools?
Ruidoso Municipal Schools has 4 schools, including 1 high, 1 combined, 1 elementary, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 1,820 students.
How much does Ruidoso Municipal Schools spend per student?
Ruidoso Municipal Schools spends $12,251 per student. The district has an equity score of 37/100, ranking #70 in New Mexico.
What is the demographic composition of Ruidoso Municipal Schools?
Ruidoso Municipal Schools students are 56.6% Hispanic or Latino, 24.8% White, 1.4% Asian, 0.7% African American, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Ruidoso Municipal Schools?
Ruidoso Municipal Schools has an equity score of 37/100, ranking #70 out of 98 districts in New Mexico.