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Belleville, Michigan - 7 schools
An equity score of 59/100 ranks Van Buren Public Schools #198 of 707 districts in Michigan (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,652 per pupil, Van Buren Public Schools ranks #153 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending (Michigan districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,319
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$14,652
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Van Buren Public Schools operates 7 public schools serving 4,319 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Michigan. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 combined, 3 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 Wayne County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,652 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending. See how Michigan compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 39.5% local, 49.0% state, and 11.5% 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 59/100, ranked #198 of 707 in Michigan against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 382.8:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 41.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 43.8% White, 42.0% African American, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Mcbride Middle School, with a diversity index of 62.9/100.
Its largest campus is Belleville High School, enrolling 1,669 students (40% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Rawsonville Elementary School, at 313 students, a 5x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Belleville High School accounts for 38.6% of all Van Buren Public Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Van Buren 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.
Van Buren Public Schools school enrollment varies 5.3× across entities
Van Buren Public Schools school enrollment ranges from 313 students (lowest) to 1,669 students (highest), a spread of 1,356 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.
Van Buren Public Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 59.0% 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). 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.
Van Buren Public Schools student-counselor ratio is 383:1 — 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.
Van Buren Public Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 41.3% — 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.
Van Buren Public Schools has 7 schools, including 4 combined, 3 elementary. Total enrollment is 4,319 students.
How much does Van Buren Public Schools spend per student?
Van Buren Public Schools spends $14,652 per student. The district has an equity score of 59/100, ranking #198 in Michigan.
What is the demographic composition of Van Buren Public Schools?
Van Buren Public Schools students are 43.8% White, 42.0% African American, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% Asian, averaged across 7 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Van Buren Public Schools?
Van Buren Public Schools has an equity score of 59/100, ranking #198 out of 707 districts in Michigan.