Enrollment
451
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Slater, IA
Ballard West Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Ballard West Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 50/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 190420000108
👥 S:T ratio 47
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 10
📋 Attendance 73
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Ballard West Elementary earns 50/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Iowa median.
- 50
- Resource Index · Higher
- 13.3:1
- students per teacher
- 15.0%
- free-lunch eligible
- 451
- students enrolled
Ballard West Elementary has class sizes near the Iowa median. Computed live against every Iowa school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Ballard Comm School District · Iowa
NCES ID 190420000108 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
34.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
13.3:1
vs 14.8:1 Iowa avg
-10% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
15.0%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
-59% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Ballard West Elementary compares with Iowa and U.S. medians
What stands out at Ballard West Elementary
Ballard West Elementary is a lower-poverty, mid-sized combined-grade school in Slater, Iowa, enrolling 451 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 13.3:1 puts it in the smaller third of Iowa schools by student-teacher ratio.
Comparatively few students face economic hardship here, 15.0% free-meal eligibility runs 59% below the Iowa average.
Enrollment of 451 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 252 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #78.
Its student body is predominantly White (91% of enrollment) (diversity index 17/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 451 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
10.9% of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 collection, in line with the post-pandemic national range.
Ballard Comm School District also operates Ballard High School (586 students) and Ballard Middle School (418 students) alongside Ballard West Elementary.
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 West Elementary compares
Ballard West Elementary on the metrics families compare, against Iowa and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Iowa | Iowa avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 13.3:1 | ▼ 10% | 14.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 15.0% | ▼ 59% | 36.4% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 451 | top 25% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
13.3:1
Leaner classes than 64% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
451
Bigger than 55% 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
13.3:1
students per teacher
- 10% below state mean
Top 40% in Iowa - lower ratio than 60% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
10.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 10-15% range, above the pre-pandemic national baseline but within the broader post-pandemic picture.
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
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 451 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
6
in-school suspensions + 4 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.2 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 90.9%
Hispanic or Latino 5.1%
Two or More 2.4%
African American 1.3%
Asian 0.2%
Largest group: White at 90.9% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 17.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 17.0, Ballard West Elementary is less mixed than the Iowa school average of 33.8.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Ballard Comm School District, which includes Ballard West Elementary.
$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 West Elementary Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballard High School | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Ballard Middle School | Similar size | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Ballard East Elementary | Similar size | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Ballard West Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 586
- Students per teacher
- 17.8:1
- Resource Index
- 47/100
- 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 other 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 (~451 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Ballard West Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Ballard West Elementary 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 West Elementary
How many students attend Ballard West Elementary?
Ballard West Elementary has 451 students enrolled. It is a public school in Slater, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ballard West Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Ballard West Elementary is 13.3:1, which is 10% lower than the Iowa average of 14.8:1 and 15% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Ballard West Elementary?
15.0% of students at Ballard West Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Ballard West Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Ballard West Elementary is White at 90.9% of enrollment, in Slater, IA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Ballard West Elementary?
Ballard West Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 50/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Ballard West Elementary a good school?
Ballard West Elementary earns 50/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Iowa median. 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 West Elementary, Ballard Comm School District also operates Ballard High School (586 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.