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Shirley, Arkansas - 2 schools
An equity score of 67/100 ranks Shirley School District #65 of 250 districts in Arkansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,610 per pupil, Shirley School District ranks #33 of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending (Arkansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
319
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$14,610
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Shirley School District operates 2 public schools serving 319 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arkansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary, 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 Van Buren County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,610 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 255 Arkansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arkansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 50.3% local, 24.6% state, and 25.1% 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 67/100, ranked #65 of 250 in Arkansas against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 279:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 49.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 95.0% White, 1.5% African American, 1.2% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Shirley Elementary School, enrolling 169 students (61% of the district's total enrollment).
Shirley Elementary School accounts for 53.0% of all Shirley School District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Shirley School District a distant remainder — means Shirley School District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Shirley School District 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.
Shirley School District student-counselor ratio is 279:1 — 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 Shirley School District is typically wider than the Shirley School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Shirley School District chronic absenteeism rate is 49.8% — 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.
Shirley School District has 2 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 319 students.
How much does Shirley School District spend per student?
Shirley School District spends $14,610 per student. The district has an equity score of 67/100, ranking #65 in Arkansas.
What is the demographic composition of Shirley School District?
Shirley School District students are 95.0% White, 1.5% African American, 1.2% Hispanic or Latino, 0.9% Asian, averaged across 2 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Shirley School District?
Shirley School District has an equity score of 67/100, ranking #65 out of 250 districts in Arkansas.