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Gary, Indiana - 1 schools
An equity score of 89/100 ranks Steel City Academy #9 of 373 districts in Indiana (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,328 per pupil, Steel City Academy ranks #85 of 406 Indiana districts by per-pupil spending (Indiana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
343
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$13,328
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Steel City Academy operates 1 public schools serving 343 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Indiana. The school portfolio breaks down into 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 Lake County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,328 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 1.2% local, 62.2% state, and 36.6% 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 89/100, ranked #9 of 373 in Indiana against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 1 schools offering Advanced Placement (3 AP courses district-wide), and 57.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 92.0% African American, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 1.7% White across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Steel City Academy, enrolling 286 students (100% of the district's total enrollment).
Steel City Academy accounts for 83.4% of all Steel City Academy student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Steel City Academy a distant remainder — means Steel City Academy-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.
Steel City Academy has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 91.0% 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). Eligibility here is a supermajority of the population — well past the 75% concentration-grant threshold that unlocks extra funding 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.
Steel City Academy chronic absenteeism rate is 57.7% — 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.
Steel City Academy has 1 school, including 1 combined. Total enrollment is 343 students.
How much does Steel City Academy spend per student?
Steel City Academy spends $13,328 per student. The district has an equity score of 89/100, ranking #9 in Indiana.
What is the demographic composition of Steel City Academy?
Steel City Academy students are 92.0% African American, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 1.7% White, averaged across 1 school. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Steel City Academy?
Steel City Academy has an equity score of 89/100, ranking #9 out of 373 districts in Indiana.