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Pataskala, Ohio - 8 schools
An equity score of 13/100 ranks Southwest Licking Local #788 of 806 districts in Ohio (state average 46). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,609 per pupil, Southwest Licking Local ranks #893 of 966 Ohio districts by per-pupil spending (Ohio districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,794
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$10,609
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Southwest Licking Local operates 8 public schools serving 4,794 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Ohio. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 elementary, 3 combined, 1 high schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Licking County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,609 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 97 of 966 Ohio districts by per-pupil spending. See how Ohio compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 56.0% local, 35.5% state, and 8.5% 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 13/100, ranked #788 of 806 in Ohio against a state average of 46, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 8 schools offering Advanced Placement (5 AP courses district-wide), a 633.7:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 17.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 69.7% White, 14.4% Asian, 5.3% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Southwest Licking Early Learning Center, with a diversity index of 59.2/100.
Its largest campus is Watkins Memorial High School, enrolling 1,397 students (28% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Swl Digital Academy, at 75 students, a 19x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Watkins Memorial High School accounts for 27.7% of all Southwest Licking Local student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Southwest Licking Local-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.
Southwest Licking Local school enrollment varies 19× across entities
Southwest Licking Local school enrollment ranges from 75 students (lowest) to 1,397 students (highest), a spread of 1,322 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Southwest Licking Local student-counselor ratio is 634:1 — 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.
Southwest Licking Local chronic absenteeism rate is 17.8% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
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 Variation between sub-units within Southwest Licking Local is typically wider than the Southwest Licking Local-aggregate figure suggests.
Southwest Licking Local has 8 schools, including 1 high, 3 combined, 4 elementary. Total enrollment is 4,794 students.
How much does Southwest Licking Local spend per student?
Southwest Licking Local spends $10,609 per student. The district has an equity score of 13/100, ranking #788 in Ohio.
What is the demographic composition of Southwest Licking Local?
Southwest Licking Local students are 69.7% White, 14.4% Asian, 5.3% African American, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, averaged across 8 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Southwest Licking Local?
Southwest Licking Local has an equity score of 13/100, ranking #788 out of 806 districts in Ohio.