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Poneto, Indiana - 2 schools
An equity score of 49/100 ranks Southern Wells Com Schools #199 of 373 districts in Indiana (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,277 per pupil, Southern Wells Com Schools ranks #155 of 406 Indiana districts by per-pupil spending (Indiana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
889
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$12,277
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Southern Wells Com Schools operates 2 public schools serving 889 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Indiana. 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 Wells County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,277 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 406 Indiana districts by per-pupil spending. See how Indiana compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 31.4% local, 58.0% state, and 10.7% 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 49/100, ranked #199 of 373 in Indiana against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 2 schools offering Advanced Placement (2 AP courses district-wide), a 440:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 12.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 95.2% White, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.3% Asian across the district's schools.
Southern Wells Elementary School accounts for 55.8% of all Southern Wells Com Schools student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Southern Wells Com Schools a distant remainder — means Southern Wells Com Schools-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.
Southern Wells Com Schools student-counselor ratio is 440:1 — 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.
Southern Wells Com Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 12.1% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
How many schools are in Southern Wells Com Schools?
Southern Wells Com Schools has 2 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 889 students.
How much does Southern Wells Com Schools spend per student?
Southern Wells Com Schools spends $12,277 per student. The district has an equity score of 49/100, ranking #199 in Indiana.
What is the demographic composition of Southern Wells Com Schools?
Southern Wells Com Schools students are 95.2% White, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.3% Asian, averaged across 2 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Southern Wells Com Schools?
Southern Wells Com Schools has an equity score of 49/100, ranking #199 out of 373 districts in Indiana.