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Union Star, Missouri - 3 schools
At $15,545 per pupil, Union Star R-Ii ranks #87 of 549 Missouri districts by per-pupil spending (Missouri districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
162
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$15,545
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Union Star R-Ii operates 3 public schools serving 162 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Missouri. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined, 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 Dekalb County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,545 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 549 Missouri districts by per-pupil spending. See how Missouri compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 59.1% local, 26.8% state, and 14.1% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers.
a 157:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 6.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 95.0% White, 1.5% Hispanic or Latino, 0.4% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Union Star High, with a diversity index of 16.5/100.
Its largest campus is Union Star High, enrolling 91 students (55% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Union Star Preschool, at 9 students, a 10x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Union Star High accounts for 54.8% of all Union Star R-Ii student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Union Star R-Ii a distant remainder — means Union Star R-Ii-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.
Union Star R-Ii school enrollment varies 10× across entities
Union Star R-Ii school enrollment ranges from 9 students (lowest) to 91 students (highest), a spread of 82 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Union Star R-Ii student-counselor ratio is 157:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 Values this far below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Union Star R-Ii chronic absenteeism rate is 6.1% — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Union Star R-Ii has 3 schools, including 2 combined, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 162 students.
How much does Union Star R-Ii spend per student?
Union Star R-Ii spends $15,545 per student.
What is the demographic composition of Union Star R-Ii?
Union Star R-Ii students are 95.0% White, 1.5% Hispanic or Latino, 0.4% African American, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.