Enrollment
491
Mississippi · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Bay St Louis, MS
Bay High School
Federal NCES profile for Bay High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 33/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 280057000045
👥 S:T ratio 54
📚 AP courses 10
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 35
📋 Attendance 38
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Bay High School earns 33/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 78% of Mississippi schools.
- 33
- Resource Index · Typical
- 11.4:1
- small classes for Mississippi
- 100.0%
- free-lunch eligible
- 491
- students enrolled
Bay High School has class sizes smaller than 78% of Mississippi schools. Computed live against every Mississippi school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist · Mississippi
NCES ID 280057000045 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
43.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
11.4:1
vs 13.3:1 Mississippi avg
-14% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
100.0%
vs 80.5% Mississippi avg
+24% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Bay High School compares with Mississippi and U.S. medians
What stands out at Bay High School
Bay High School is a high-poverty, mid-sized high school in Bay St Louis, Mississippi, enrolling 491 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 11.4:1 puts it in the smaller third of Mississippi schools by student-teacher ratio.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 100.0% lands close to the Mississippi typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
With 491 students, its enrollment sits close to the Mississippi median campus size.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 877 scored Mississippi schools.
Against 248 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #134.
Its student body is led by White (63%) and African American (22%) (diversity index 55/100).
No Advanced Placement courses are reported for this campus in the federal data.
Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 327 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 24.8% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
The surrounding Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist spends $14,358 per pupil, 20% above the Mississippi average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 28.1% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Discipline events run high: 197 in- and out-of-school suspensions were reported for 491 students in the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
The federal civil-rights collection also records 9 expulsions at this campus for 2021-22.
Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist also operates Waveland Elementary School (460 students) and Bay Waveland Middle School (365 students) alongside Bay 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 Bay High School compares
Bay High School on the metrics families compare, against Mississippi and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Mississippi | Mississippi avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 11.4:1 | ▼ 14% | 13.3:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 100.0% | ▲ 24% | 80.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 491 | top 37% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
11.4:1
Leaner classes than 80% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
491
Bigger than 60% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
100.0%
free-lunch eligible
- 24% above the Mississippi average of 80.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
11.4:1
students per teacher
- 14% below state mean
Top 22% in Mississippi - lower ratio than 78% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
24.8%
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
$14,358
per pupil, district-wide
- above Mississippi avg of $11,990
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.5 FTE
Per 327 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
135
in-school suspensions + 62 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 27.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 40.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 9 expulsions.
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 62.9%
African American 21.6%
Hispanic or Latino 9.4%
Two or More 5.3%
Asian 0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.4%
Largest group: White at 62.9% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 54.6/100
Simpson diversity index - at 54.6, Bay High School is more mixed than the Mississippi school average of 41.1.
Programs
AP program Not offered
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist, which includes Bay High School.
$14,358
Per student
+20%
vs Mississippi
Avg $11,990
-13%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 38.7%
State 33.2%
Federal 28.1%
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 Bay High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waveland Elementary School | Similar size | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Bay Waveland Middle School | Smaller | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| North Bay Elementary School | Smaller | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Bay High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 460
- Students per teacher
- 12.8:1
- Resource Index
- 43/100
- Enrollment
- 365
- Students per teacher
- 11.8:1
- Resource Index
- 45/100
- Enrollment
- 348
- Students per teacher
- 13.4:1
- Resource Index
- 50/100
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Mississippi, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~491 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~11.4:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Bay High School's federal record.
- Compare Bay High School against another school. Compare schools
- Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist'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 Bay High School
How many students attend Bay High School?
Bay High School has 491 students enrolled. It is a high school in Bay St Louis, MS.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Bay High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Bay High School is 11.4:1, which is 14% lower than the Mississippi average of 13.3:1 and 27% 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 Bay High School?
100.0% of students at Bay High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Mississippi average of 80.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Bay High School?
The largest demographic group at Bay High School is White at 62.9% of enrollment, in Bay St Louis, MS. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 54.6/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Bay High School?
Bay High School has a Resource Investment Index of 33/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Bay High School a good school?
Bay High School earns 33/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 78% of Mississippi 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 Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist?
Besides Bay High School, Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist also operates Waveland Elementary School (460 students), Bay Waveland Middle School (365 students), and North Bay Elementary School (348 students). See the Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist district page for the complete list.
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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.