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Safford, Arizona - 7 schools
An equity score of 25/100 ranks Safford Unified District (4218) #303 of 437 districts in Arizona (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,046 per pupil, Safford Unified District (4218) ranks #499 of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending (Arizona districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,943
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$9,046
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Safford Unified District (4218) operates 7 public schools serving 2,943 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arizona. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 high, 2 elementary, 1 combined, 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 Graham County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,046 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arizona compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 18.8% local, 66.4% state, and 14.8% 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 25/100, ranked #303 of 437 in Arizona against a state average of 38, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 889.3:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 51.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 56.2% Hispanic or Latino, 39.1% White, 1.1% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Safford Middle School, with a diversity index of 54.2/100.
Its largest campus is Safford High School, enrolling 828 students (28% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Henry Dunkerson Pathways Academy, at 33 students, a 25x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Safford High School accounts for 28.1% of all Safford Unified District (4218) student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Safford Unified District (4218)-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.
Safford Unified District (4218) school enrollment varies 25× across entities
Safford Unified District (4218) school enrollment ranges from 33 students (lowest) to 828 students (highest), a spread of 795 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Safford Unified District (4218) student-counselor ratio is 889:1 — 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.
Safford Unified District (4218) chronic absenteeism rate is 51.0% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Safford Unified District (4218)'s own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Arizona
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.