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Hartford, South Dakota - 6 schools
An equity score of 24/100 ranks West Central School District 49-7 #111 of 121 districts in South Dakota (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,843 per pupil, West Central School District 49-7 ranks #140 of 149 South Dakota districts by per-pupil spending (South Dakota districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,412
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$9,843
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
West Central School District 49-7 operates 6 public schools serving 1,412 students, placing it among the smallest districts in South Dakota. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 2 combined, 1 high, 1 middle 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 Minnehaha County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,843 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 15 of 149 South Dakota districts by per-pupil spending. See how South Dakota compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 48.4% local, 39.1% state, and 12.5% 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 24/100, ranked #111 of 121 in South Dakota against a state average of 51, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 6 schools offering Advanced Placement (4 AP courses district-wide), a 354.9:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 5.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 70.0% White, 4.1% African American, 1.8% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Brighten Transition Youth Treatment Center - 07, with a diversity index of 61.1/100.
West Central High School - 01 accounts for 28.8% of all West Central School District 49-7 student enrollment
That dominant concentration means West Central School District 49-7-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.
West Central School District 49-7 school enrollment varies 68× across entities
West Central School District 49-7 school enrollment ranges from 6 students (lowest) to 408 students (highest), a spread of 402 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
West Central School District 49-7 student-counselor ratio is 355:1 — 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.
West Central School District 49-7 chronic absenteeism rate is 5.4% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to West Central School District 49-7's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in South Dakota
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in West Central School District 49-7?
West Central School District 49-7 has 6 schools, including 1 high, 2 elementary, 1 middle, 2 combined. Total enrollment is 1,412 students.
How much does West Central School District 49-7 spend per student?
West Central School District 49-7 spends $9,843 per student. The district has an equity score of 24/100, ranking #111 in South Dakota.
What is the demographic composition of West Central School District 49-7?
West Central School District 49-7 students are 70.0% White, 4.1% African American, 1.8% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% Asian, averaged across 6 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for West Central School District 49-7?
West Central School District 49-7 has an equity score of 24/100, ranking #111 out of 121 districts in South Dakota.