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Jesup, Georgia - 8 schools
An equity score of 54/100 ranks Wayne County #93 of 216 districts in Georgia (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,281 per pupil, Wayne County ranks #112 of 219 Georgia districts by per-pupil spending (Georgia districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
5,172
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$13,281
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Wayne County operates 8 public schools serving 5,172 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Georgia. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 combined, 2 middle, 1 high 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 Wayne County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,281 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 219 Georgia districts by per-pupil spending. See how Georgia compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 28.6% local, 50.0% state, and 21.5% 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 54/100, ranked #93 of 216 in Georgia against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 8 schools offering Advanced Placement (9 AP courses district-wide), a 509.3:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 37.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 62.0% White, 20.0% African American, 11.4% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Martha Rawls Smith Elementary School, with a diversity index of 69.0/100.
Its largest campus is Wayne County High School, enrolling 1,576 students (29% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Screven Elementary School, at 225 students, a 7x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Wayne County High School accounts for 29.5% of all Wayne County student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Wayne 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.
Wayne County school enrollment varies 7.0× across entities
Wayne County school enrollment ranges from 225 students (lowest) to 1,576 students (highest), a spread of 1,351 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.
Wayne County has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 75.2% 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 — including this one — 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.
Wayne County student-counselor ratio is 509:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 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.
Wayne County chronic absenteeism rate is 37.3% — 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.
Wayne County has 8 schools, including 1 high, 5 combined, 2 middle. Total enrollment is 5,172 students.
How much does Wayne County spend per student?
Wayne County spends $13,281 per student. The district has an equity score of 54/100, ranking #93 in Georgia.
What is the demographic composition of Wayne County?
Wayne County students are 62.0% White, 20.0% African American, 11.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% Asian, averaged across 8 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Wayne County?
Wayne County has an equity score of 54/100, ranking #93 out of 216 districts in Georgia.