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Spirit Lake, Iowa - 3 schools
An equity score of 15/100 ranks Spirit Lake Comm School District #291 of 303 districts in Iowa (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,634 per pupil, Spirit Lake Comm School District ranks #249 of 327 Iowa districts by per-pupil spending (Iowa districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,304
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$11,634
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Spirit Lake Comm School District operates 3 public schools serving 1,304 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Iowa. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 1 high, 1 elementary 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 Dickinson County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,634 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 327 Iowa districts by per-pupil spending. See how Iowa compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 67.6% local, 25.4% state, and 7.1% 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 15/100, ranked #291 of 303 in Iowa against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (2 AP courses district-wide), a 449.3:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 21.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 87.4% White, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 1.8% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Spirit Lake High School, with a diversity index of 25.7/100.
Its largest campus is Spirit Lake Elementary School, enrolling 547 students (41% of the district's total enrollment).
Spirit Lake Elementary School accounts for 41.5% of all Spirit Lake Comm School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Spirit Lake Comm School District-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.
Spirit Lake Comm School District student-counselor ratio is 449:1 — 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.
Spirit Lake Comm School District chronic absenteeism rate is 21.0% — 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 Spirit Lake Comm School District is typically wider than the Spirit Lake Comm School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Comparisons are relative to Spirit Lake Comm School District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Iowa
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Spirit Lake Comm School District?
Spirit Lake Comm School District has 3 schools, including 1 combined, 1 high, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 1,304 students.
How much does Spirit Lake Comm School District spend per student?
Spirit Lake Comm School District spends $11,634 per student. The district has an equity score of 15/100, ranking #291 in Iowa.
What is the demographic composition of Spirit Lake Comm School District?
Spirit Lake Comm School District students are 87.4% White, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 1.8% African American, 0.9% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Spirit Lake Comm School District?
Spirit Lake Comm School District has an equity score of 15/100, ranking #291 out of 303 districts in Iowa.