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Buckley, Washington - 9 schools
An equity score of 12/100 ranks White River School District #235 of 238 districts in Washington (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,938 per pupil, White River School District ranks #295 of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending (Washington districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,408
Total Enrollment
9
Schools
$13,938
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
White River School District operates 9 public schools serving 4,408 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Washington. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 combined, 3 elementary, 2 high, 1 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 Pierce County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,938 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 31 of 309 Washington districts by per-pupil spending. See how Washington compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 31.1% local, 63.6% state, and 5.3% 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 12/100, ranked #235 of 238 in Washington against a state average of 50, notably less 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 (14 AP courses district-wide), a 440.6:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 13.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 72.1% White, 16.2% Hispanic or Latino, 1.9% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Foothills Elementary, with a diversity index of 53.4/100.
Its largest campus is White River High School, enrolling 1,340 students (30% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is White River Special Ed Services, at 6 students, a 223x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
White River High School accounts for 29.9% of all White River School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means White River School District-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.
White River School District school enrollment varies 223× across entities
White River School District school enrollment ranges from 6 students (lowest) to 1,340 students (highest), a spread of 1,334 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.
White River School District student-counselor ratio is 441:1 — 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.
White River School District chronic absenteeism rate is 13.4% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
How many schools are in White River School District?
White River School District has 9 schools, including 2 high, 1 middle, 3 combined, 3 elementary. Total enrollment is 4,408 students.
How much does White River School District spend per student?
White River School District spends $13,938 per student. The district has an equity score of 12/100, ranking #235 in Washington.
What is the demographic composition of White River School District?
White River School District students are 72.1% White, 16.2% Hispanic or Latino, 1.9% Asian, 1.3% African American, averaged across 9 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for White River School District?
White River School District has an equity score of 12/100, ranking #235 out of 238 districts in Washington.