Enrollment
586
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Huxley, IA
Ballard High School
Federal NCES profile for Ballard High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 43/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 190420000105
👥 S:T ratio 29
📚 AP courses 25
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 41
📋 Attendance 48
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Ballard High School earns 43/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 88% of Iowa schools.
- 43
- Resource Index · Typical
- 17.8:1
- large classes for Iowa
- 15.0%
- free-lunch eligible
- 586
- students enrolled
Ballard High School has class sizes larger than 88% of Iowa schools. Computed live against every Iowa school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Ballard Comm School District · Iowa
NCES ID 190420000105 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
33.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
17.8:1
vs 14.8:1 Iowa avg
+20% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
15.0%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
-59% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Ballard High School compares with Iowa and U.S. medians
What stands out at Ballard High School
Ballard High School is a lower-poverty, large high school in Huxley, Iowa, enrolling 586 students.
Class loads run heavy: 17.8:1 is larger than about 88% of Iowa schools and 20% above the 14.8:1 state mean, so each teacher carries more students than is typical.
Comparatively few students face economic hardship here, 15.0% free-meal eligibility runs 59% below the Iowa average.
Enrollment of 586 puts it in the larger third of Iowa schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 1,322 scored Iowa schools.
Against 192 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #85.
Its student body is predominantly White (93% of enrollment) (diversity index 14/100).
On the academic-pipeline side it reports 5 Advanced Placement courses.
Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 293 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 20.8% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Ballard Comm School District also operates Ballard West Elementary (451 students) and Ballard Middle School (418 students) alongside Ballard High School.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Ballard High School compares
Ballard High School on the metrics families compare, against Iowa and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Iowa | Iowa avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 17.8:1 | ▲ 20% | 14.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 15.0% | ▼ 59% | 36.4% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 586 | top 13% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
17.8:1
Leaner classes than 26% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
586
Bigger than 71% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
15.0%
free-lunch eligible
- 59% below the Iowa average of 36.4%
Below the 40% Title I threshold, among the lower-need profiles in the state; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
17.8:1
students per teacher
- 20% above state mean
Top 88% in Iowa - lower ratio than 12% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
20.8%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$11,121
per pupil, district-wide
- below Iowa avg of $12,854
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 293 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
6
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 92.8%
Hispanic or Latino 4.1%
African American 1.7%
Two or More 0.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%
Largest group: White at 92.8% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 13.7/100
Simpson diversity index - at 13.7, Ballard High School is less mixed than the Iowa school average of 33.8.
Programs
AP courses offered 5
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Ballard Comm School District, which includes Ballard High School.
$11,121
Per student
-13%
vs Iowa
Avg $12,854
-33%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 43.0%
State 49.4%
Federal 7.5%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Ballard High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballard West Elementary | Similar size | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| Ballard Middle School | Smaller | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| Ballard East Elementary | Smaller | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Ballard High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 451
- Students per teacher
- 13.3:1
- Resource Index
- 50/100
- Enrollment
- 418
- Students per teacher
- 15.5:1
- Resource Index
- 43/100
- Enrollment
- 417
- Students per teacher
- 13.5:1
- Resource Index
- 52/100
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Iowa, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~586 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~17.8:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Ballard High School's federal record.
- Compare Ballard High School against another school. Compare schools
- Ballard Comm School District's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Ballard High School
How many students attend Ballard High School?
Ballard High School has 586 students enrolled. It is a high school in Huxley, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ballard High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Ballard High School is 17.8:1, which is 20% higher than the Iowa average of 14.8:1 and 13% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Ballard High School?
15.0% of students at Ballard High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Ballard High School?
The largest demographic group at Ballard High School is White at 92.8% of enrollment, in Huxley, IA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Ballard High School?
Ballard High School has a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Ballard High School a good school?
Ballard High School earns 43/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 88% of Iowa schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Ballard Comm School District?
Besides Ballard High School, Ballard Comm School District also operates Ballard West Elementary (451 students), Ballard Middle School (418 students), and Ballard East Elementary (417 students). See the Ballard Comm School District district page for the complete list.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.