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Mendenhall, Mississippi - 7 schools
An equity score of 44/100 ranks Simpson Co School Dist #88 of 146 districts in Mississippi (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,064 per pupil, Simpson Co School Dist ranks #86 of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending (Mississippi districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,008
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$11,064
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Simpson Co School Dist operates 7 public schools serving 3,008 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Mississippi. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 elementary, 2 high, 2 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 Simpson County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,064 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending. See how Mississippi compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 27.8% local, 46.1% state, and 26.1% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 44/100, ranked #88 of 146 in Mississippi against a state average of 51, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 434.3:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 55.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 53.6% African American, 39.5% White, 3.3% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Magee Middle School, with a diversity index of 57.1/100.
Its largest campus is Mendenhall High School, enrolling 646 students (21% of the district's total enrollment).
Mendenhall High School accounts for 21.3% of all Simpson Co School Dist student enrollment
That concentration means Simpson Co School Dist-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.
Simpson Co School Dist school enrollment varies 2.7× across entities
Simpson Co School Dist school enrollment ranges from 243 students (lowest) to 646 students (highest), a spread of 403 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.
Simpson Co School Dist has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 84.8% 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 — including this one — 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.
Simpson Co School Dist student-counselor ratio is 434:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Simpson Co School Dist chronic absenteeism rate is 55.4% — 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.
Simpson Co School Dist has 7 schools, including 2 high, 3 elementary, 2 middle. Total enrollment is 3,008 students.
How much does Simpson Co School Dist spend per student?
Simpson Co School Dist spends $11,064 per student. The district has an equity score of 44/100, ranking #88 in Mississippi.
What is the demographic composition of Simpson Co School Dist?
Simpson Co School Dist students are 53.6% African American, 39.5% White, 3.3% Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% Asian, averaged across 7 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Simpson Co School Dist?
Simpson Co School Dist has an equity score of 44/100, ranking #88 out of 146 districts in Mississippi.