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Somerton, Arizona - 7 schools
An equity score of 53/100 ranks Somerton Elementary District (4500) #99 of 437 districts in Arizona (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,939 per pupil, Somerton Elementary District (4500) ranks #310 of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending (Arizona districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,877
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$10,939
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Somerton Elementary District (4500) operates 7 public schools serving 2,877 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Arizona. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 combined, 2 elementary, 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 Yuma County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,939 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arizona compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 6.5% local, 61.5% state, and 32.0% 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 53/100, ranked #99 of 437 in Arizona against a state average of 38, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 551.5:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 46.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 96.0% Hispanic or Latino, 1.1% White, 0.1% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Encanto Learning Center, with a diversity index of 20.7/100.
Its largest campus is Somerton Middle School, enrolling 697 students (23% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Bravie T. Soto Elementary School, at 229 students, a 3x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Somerton Middle School accounts for 23.3% of all Somerton Elementary District (4500) student enrollment
That concentration means Somerton Elementary District (4500)-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: middle. 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.
Somerton Elementary District (4500) school enrollment varies 3.0× across entities
Somerton Elementary District (4500) school enrollment ranges from 229 students (lowest) to 697 students (highest), a spread of 468 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.
Somerton Elementary District (4500) has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 53.8% 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 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.
Somerton Elementary District (4500) student-counselor ratio is 552:1 — 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.
Somerton Elementary District (4500) chronic absenteeism rate is 46.5% — 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 Somerton Elementary District (4500)'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.