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Tawas City, Michigan - 3 schools
An equity score of 30/100 ranks Tawas Area Schools #633 of 707 districts in Michigan (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,877 per pupil, Tawas Area Schools ranks #575 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending (Michigan districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,136
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$11,877
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Tawas Area Schools operates 3 public schools serving 1,136 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Michigan. 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 Iosco County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,877 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending. See how Michigan compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 39.3% local, 47.8% state, and 12.9% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 30/100, ranked #633 of 707 in Michigan 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 (4 AP courses district-wide), a 351:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 34.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 89.3% White, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Tawas Area Middle School, with a diversity index of 21.6/100.
Clara B Bolen Elementary School accounts for 38.1% of all Tawas Area Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Tawas Area Schools-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.
Tawas Area Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 51.5% 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.
Tawas Area Schools student-counselor ratio is 351:1 — 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.
Tawas Area Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 34.5% — 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.
Tawas Area Schools has 3 schools, including 1 combined, 1 high, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 1,136 students.
How much does Tawas Area Schools spend per student?
Tawas Area Schools spends $11,877 per student. The district has an equity score of 30/100, ranking #633 in Michigan.
What is the demographic composition of Tawas Area Schools?
Tawas Area Schools students are 89.3% White, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% Asian, 0.7% African American, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Tawas Area Schools?
Tawas Area Schools has an equity score of 30/100, ranking #633 out of 707 districts in Michigan.