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Bennington, Vermont - 6 schools
An equity score of 24/100 ranks Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 #76 of 80 districts in Vermont (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,568 per pupil, Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 ranks #100 of 102 Vermont districts by per-pupil spending (Vermont districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,425
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$10,568
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 operates 6 public schools serving 1,425 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Vermont. The school portfolio breaks down into 6 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 Bennington County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,568 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 11 of 102 Vermont districts by per-pupil spending. See how Vermont compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 1.5% local, 97.9% state, and 0.6% 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 24/100, ranked #76 of 80 in Vermont against a state average of 51, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 184:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 42.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 91.7% White, 3.0% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Molly Stark School, with a diversity index of 24.0/100.
Its largest campus is Molly Stark School, enrolling 402 students (30% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Woodford Hollow School, at 30 students, a 13x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Molly Stark School accounts for 28.2% of all Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. 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 Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 school enrollment varies 13× across entities
Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 school enrollment ranges from 30 students (lowest) to 402 students (highest), a spread of 372 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 Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 student-counselor ratio is 184:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 chronic absenteeism rate is 42.6% — 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 Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Vermont
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87?
Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 has 6 schools, including 6 combined. Total enrollment is 1,425 students.
How much does Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 spend per student?
Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 spends $10,568 per student. The district has an equity score of 24/100, ranking #76 in Vermont.
What is the demographic composition of Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87?
Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 students are 91.7% White, 3.0% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% Asian, 0.8% African American, averaged across 6 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87?
Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District #87 has an equity score of 24/100, ranking #76 out of 80 districts in Vermont.