SOUTHERN MN EDUCATION CONSORTIUM operates 13 public schools serving 151 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Minnesota. The school portfolio breaks down into 12 other, 1 high schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage before they move, rent, or enrol. Aggregated across those campuses, enrollment totals 176 pupils using the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2022-23 release, and the district is geographically located in Mower County County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $46,357 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, which aggregates every revenue and spending line reported under federal accounting standards. The funding mix is 33.9% local, 56.3% state, and 9.7% federal — a breakdown that matters because districts leaning heavily on local revenue are more exposed to property-tax swings, while higher federal shares typically track Title I concentration. Average teacher compensation clocks in at $359,161 per NCES F-33, a signal of the district's ability to recruit and retain staff against neighbouring districts.
and 50.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 81.3% White, 11.3% Hispanic or Latino, 4.4% African American across the district's schools.
Smec Alc accounts for 39.8% of all SOUTHERN MN EDUCATION CONSORTIUM student enrollment
That concentration — well above the 8.4% national median for largest-entity share — means SOUTHERN MN EDUCATION CONSORTIUM-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: other. 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.
SOUTHERN MN EDUCATION CONSORTIUM school enrollment varies 70× across entities
SOUTHERN MN EDUCATION CONSORTIUM school enrollment ranges from 1 students (lowest) to 70 students (highest), a spread of 69 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity — the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
SOUTHERN MN EDUCATION CONSORTIUM has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 57.9% 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.
SOUTHERN MN EDUCATION CONSORTIUM chronic absenteeism rate is 50.9% — 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.