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Taunton, Massachusetts - 12 schools
An equity score of 25/100 ranks Taunton #290 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $17,503 per pupil, Taunton ranks #357 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
8,005
Total Enrollment
12
Schools
$17,503
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Taunton operates 12 public schools serving 8,005 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Massachusetts. The school portfolio breaks down into 6 elementary, 5 combined, 1 high 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 Bristol County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $17,503 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 40 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending. See how Massachusetts compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 40.0% local, 50.0% state, and 10.0% 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 25/100, ranked #290 of 362 in Massachusetts against a state average of 38, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 12 schools offering Advanced Placement (17 AP courses district-wide), a 187.3:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 31.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 51.2% White, 25.5% African American, 15.1% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is H H Galligan, with a diversity index of 71.6/100.
Its largest campus is Taunton High, enrolling 2,877 students (35% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Taunton Alternative High School, at 74 students, a 39x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Taunton High accounts for 34.9% of all Taunton student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Taunton-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.
Taunton school enrollment varies 39× across entities
Taunton school enrollment ranges from 74 students (lowest) to 2,877 students (highest), a spread of 2,803 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity, the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Taunton student-counselor ratio is 187:1 — 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.
Taunton chronic absenteeism rate is 31.1% — 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.