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Rusk, Texas - 5 schools
An equity score of 56/100 ranks Rusk Isd #418 of 1044 districts in Texas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,587 per pupil, Rusk Isd ranks #662 of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending (Texas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,055
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$12,587
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Rusk Isd operates 5 public schools serving 2,055 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Texas. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle, 1 combined 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 Cherokee County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,587 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1202 Texas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Texas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 22.0% local, 57.2% state, and 20.8% 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 56/100, ranked #418 of 1044 in Texas 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 5 schools offering Advanced Placement (2 AP courses district-wide), a 216.6:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 28.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 62.7% White, 18.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Gw Bradford Pri, with a diversity index of 59.2/100.
Its largest campus is Rusk H S, enrolling 621 students (30% of the district's total enrollment).
Rusk H S accounts for 30.2% of all Rusk Isd student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Rusk Isd-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.
Rusk Isd school enrollment varies 2.1× across entities
Rusk Isd school enrollment ranges from 298 students (lowest) to 621 students (highest), a spread of 323 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.
Rusk Isd has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 61.3% 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). Areas above 75% eligibility receive concentration grants 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.
Rusk Isd student-counselor ratio is 217:1 — 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.
Rusk Isd chronic absenteeism rate is 28.2% — 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 Rusk Isd is typically wider than the Rusk Isd-aggregate figure suggests.