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Tucumcari, New Mexico - 3 schools
An equity score of 58/100 ranks Tucumcari Public Schools #40 of 98 districts in New Mexico (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,218 per pupil, Tucumcari Public Schools ranks #80 of 141 New Mexico districts by per-pupil spending (New Mexico districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
907
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$14,218
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Tucumcari Public Schools operates 3 public schools serving 907 students, placing it among the smallest districts in New Mexico. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 1 high, 1 middle 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 Quay County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,218 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 141 New Mexico districts by per-pupil spending. See how New Mexico compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 9.9% local, 70.4% state, and 19.7% 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 58/100, ranked #40 of 98 in New Mexico against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 247:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 46.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 71.3% Hispanic or Latino, 23.1% White, 2.4% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Tucumcari Middle, with a diversity index of 45.9/100.
Its largest campus is Tucumcari Elementary, enrolling 451 students (50% of the district's total enrollment).
Tucumcari Elementary accounts for 49.5% of all Tucumcari Public Schools student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Tucumcari Public Schools a distant remainder — means Tucumcari Public 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.
Tucumcari Public Schools school enrollment varies 2.1× across entities
Tucumcari Public Schools school enrollment ranges from 213 students (lowest) to 451 students (highest), a spread of 238 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Tucumcari Public Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 100.0% 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.
Tucumcari Public Schools student-counselor ratio is 247:1 — 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.
Tucumcari Public Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 46.6% — 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.
Tucumcari Public Schools has 3 schools, including 1 combined, 1 high, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 907 students.
How much does Tucumcari Public Schools spend per student?
Tucumcari Public Schools spends $14,218 per student. The district has an equity score of 58/100, ranking #40 in New Mexico.
What is the demographic composition of Tucumcari Public Schools?
Tucumcari Public Schools students are 71.3% Hispanic or Latino, 23.1% White, 2.4% African American, 0.6% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Tucumcari Public Schools?
Tucumcari Public Schools has an equity score of 58/100, ranking #40 out of 98 districts in New Mexico.