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Henderson, North Carolina - 16 schools
An equity score of 66/100 ranks Vance County Schools #62 of 293 districts in North Carolina (state average 45). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,944 per pupil, Vance County Schools ranks #93 of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending (North Carolina districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
5,269
Total Enrollment
16
Schools
$12,944
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Vance County Schools operates 16 public schools serving 5,269 students, placing it among the smaller districts in North Carolina. The school portfolio breaks down into 12 combined, 2 high, 2 middle 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 Vance County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,944 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending. See how North Carolina compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 15.4% local, 61.3% state, and 23.3% 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 66/100, ranked #62 of 293 in North Carolina against a state average of 45, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 16 schools offering Advanced Placement (1 AP courses district-wide), a 365.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 48.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 64.9% African American, 19.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Aycock Elementary, with a diversity index of 69.7/100.
Its largest campus is Vance County High School, enrolling 1,064 students (20% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Advance Academy, at 112 students, a 10x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Vance County High School accounts for 20.2% of all Vance County Schools student enrollment
That concentration means Vance County Schools-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. 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.
Vance County Schools school enrollment varies 9.5× across entities
Vance County Schools school enrollment ranges from 112 students (lowest) to 1,064 students (highest), a spread of 952 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.
Vance County Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 93.3% 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.
Vance County Schools student-counselor ratio is 365:1 — 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.
Vance County Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 48.2% — 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.
Vance County Schools has 16 schools, including 2 high, 2 middle, 12 combined. Total enrollment is 5,269 students.
How much does Vance County Schools spend per student?
Vance County Schools spends $12,944 per student. The district has an equity score of 66/100, ranking #62 in North Carolina.
What is the demographic composition of Vance County Schools?
Vance County Schools students are 64.9% African American, 19.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% White, 0.9% Asian, averaged across 16 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Vance County Schools?
Vance County Schools has an equity score of 66/100, ranking #62 out of 293 districts in North Carolina.