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Salina, Kansas - 13 schools
An equity score of 70/100 ranks Salina #37 of 250 districts in Kansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,628 per pupil, Salina ranks #38 of 285 Kansas districts by per-pupil spending (Kansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
6,952
Total Enrollment
13
Schools
$18,628
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Salina operates 13 public schools serving 6,952 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Kansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 9 combined, 2 high, 2 middle schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Saline County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,628 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 285 Kansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Kansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 33.2% local, 52.9% state, and 13.8% 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 70/100, ranked #37 of 250 in Kansas 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 2 of 13 schools offering Advanced Placement (32 AP courses district-wide), a 321.2:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 32.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 54.9% White, 28.4% Hispanic or Latino, 2.8% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Cottonwood Elementary School, with a diversity index of 64.9/100.
Its largest campus is Salina High South, enrolling 1,046 students (16% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Salina Virtual Innovation Academy, at 50 students, a 21x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Salina High South accounts for 15.0% of all Salina student enrollment
That concentration means Salina-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.
Salina school enrollment varies 21× across entities
Salina school enrollment ranges from 50 students (lowest) to 1,046 students (highest), a spread of 996 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.
Salina has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 53.2% 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.
Salina student-counselor ratio is 321:1 — 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 Salina is typically wider than the Salina-aggregate figure suggests.
Salina chronic absenteeism rate is 32.0% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.