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Sugar City, Idaho - 6 schools
An equity score of 18/100 ranks Sugar-Salem Joint District #138 of 139 districts in Idaho (state average 48). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $8,040 per pupil, Sugar-Salem Joint District ranks #138 of 171 Idaho districts by per-pupil spending (Idaho districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,972
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$8,040
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Sugar-Salem Joint District operates 6 public schools serving 1,972 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Idaho. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined, 2 high, 1 middle, 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 Madison County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $8,040 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 171 Idaho districts by per-pupil spending. See how Idaho compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 18.8% local, 67.0% state, and 14.2% 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 18/100, ranked #138 of 139 in Idaho against a state average of 48, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 484:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, . Demographically, the student body averages 89.1% White, 7.7% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Central Elementary School, with a diversity index of 27.8/100.
Its largest campus is Sugar-Salem Online, enrolling 688 students (30% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Valley View Alternative High School, at 23 students, a 30x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Sugar-Salem Online accounts for 29.9% of all Sugar-Salem Joint District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Sugar-Salem Joint 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.
Sugar-Salem Joint District school enrollment varies 30× across entities
Sugar-Salem Joint District school enrollment ranges from 23 students (lowest) to 688 students (highest), a spread of 665 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Sugar-Salem Joint District student-counselor ratio is 484:1 — 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.
How many schools are in Sugar-Salem Joint District?
Sugar-Salem Joint District has 6 schools, including 2 combined, 2 high, 1 middle, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 1,972 students.
How much does Sugar-Salem Joint District spend per student?
Sugar-Salem Joint District spends $8,040 per student. The district has an equity score of 18/100, ranking #138 in Idaho.
What is the demographic composition of Sugar-Salem Joint District?
Sugar-Salem Joint District students are 89.1% White, 7.7% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% African American, 0.2% Asian, averaged across 6 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Sugar-Salem Joint District?
Sugar-Salem Joint District has an equity score of 18/100, ranking #138 out of 139 districts in Idaho.