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Bushnell, Florida - 11 schools
An equity score of 36/100 ranks Sumter #53 of 67 districts in Florida (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,415 per pupil, Sumter ranks #48 of 67 Florida districts by per-pupil spending (Florida districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
9,404
Total Enrollment
11
Schools
$10,415
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Sumter operates 11 public schools serving 9,404 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Florida. The school portfolio breaks down into 10 combined, 1 middle 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 Sumter County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,415 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 67 Florida districts by per-pupil spending. See how Florida compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 71.3% local, 13.5% state, and 15.2% 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 36/100, ranked #53 of 67 in Florida against a state average of 51, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 2 of 11 schools offering Advanced Placement (35 AP courses district-wide), a 428:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 35.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 52.4% White, 21.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Wildwood Elementary School, with a diversity index of 71.4/100.
Villages Charter School accounts for 42.3% of all Sumter student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Sumter-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.
Sumter school enrollment varies 677× across entities
Sumter school enrollment ranges from 6 students (lowest) to 4,062 students (highest), a spread of 4,056 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Sumter has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 57.5% 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). Areas above 75% eligibility receive concentration grants 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.
Sumter student-counselor ratio is 428:1 — 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.
Sumter chronic absenteeism rate is 35.3% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.