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Waycross, Georgia - 9 schools
An equity score of 72/100 ranks Ware County #36 of 216 districts in Georgia (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,213 per pupil, Ware County ranks #69 of 219 Georgia districts by per-pupil spending (Georgia districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
5,973
Total Enrollment
9
Schools
$14,213
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Ware County operates 9 public schools serving 5,973 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Georgia. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary, 2 middle, 1 high, 1 combined 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 Ware County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,213 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 219 Georgia districts by per-pupil spending. See how Georgia compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 25.7% local, 52.1% state, and 22.2% 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 72/100, ranked #36 of 216 in Georgia 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 9 schools offering Advanced Placement (10 AP courses district-wide), a 402.8:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 23.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 43.8% White, 38.4% African American, 9.4% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Ruskin Elementary School, with a diversity index of 67.2/100.
Its largest campus is Ware County High School, enrolling 1,633 students (28% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Memorial Drive Elementary School, at 346 students, a 5x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Ware County High School accounts for 27.3% of all Ware County student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Ware County-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.
Ware County school enrollment varies 4.7× across entities
Ware County school enrollment ranges from 346 students (lowest) to 1,633 students (highest), a spread of 1,287 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.
Ware County has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 89.1% 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.
Ware County student-counselor ratio is 403:1 — 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.
Ware County chronic absenteeism rate is 23.8% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
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 Variation between sub-units within Ware County is typically wider than the Ware County-aggregate figure suggests.
Ware County has 9 schools, including 1 high, 1 combined, 2 middle, 5 elementary. Total enrollment is 5,973 students.
How much does Ware County spend per student?
Ware County spends $14,213 per student. The district has an equity score of 72/100, ranking #36 in Georgia.
What is the demographic composition of Ware County?
Ware County students are 43.8% White, 38.4% African American, 9.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.9% Asian, averaged across 9 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Ware County?
Ware County has an equity score of 72/100, ranking #36 out of 216 districts in Georgia.