Enrollment
51
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · San Ygnacio, TX
Benavides El
Federal NCES profile for Benavides El, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 45/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 484671005349
👥 S:T ratio 66
🌟 Gifted program 70
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Benavides El earns 45/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 95% of Texas schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Texas.
- 45
- Resource Index · Typical
- 8.5:1
- small classes for Texas
- 88.5%
- free-lunch eligible
- 51
- students enrolled
Benavides El has class sizes smaller than 95% of Texas schools. Computed live against every Texas school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Zapata County Isd · Texas
NCES ID 484671005349 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
6.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
8.5:1
vs 14.7:1 Texas avg
-42% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
88.5%
vs 61.9% Texas avg
+43% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Benavides El compares with Texas and U.S. medians
What stands out at Benavides El
Benavides El is a high-poverty, small combined-grade school in San Ygnacio, Texas, enrolling 51 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 8.5:1, Benavides El is leaner than roughly 95% of Texas schools and 42% under the state's 14.7:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 88.5% of students eligible for free meals.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 95% of Texas schools, with 51 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 8,960 scored Texas schools.
Against 80 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #53.
Its student body is predominantly Hispanic or Latino (100% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 0/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 45.1% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 27.3% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Zapata County Isd also operates Zapata H S (1,065 students) and Zapata Middle (730 students) alongside Benavides El.
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 Benavides El compares
Benavides El on the metrics families compare, against Texas and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Texas | Texas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 8.5:1 | ▼ 42% | 14.7:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 88.5% | ▲ 43% | 61.9% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 51 | top 95% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
8.5:1
Leaner classes than 94% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
51
Bigger than 6% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
88.5%
free-lunch eligible
- 43% above the Texas average of 61.9%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
8.5:1
students per teacher
- 42% below state mean
Top 5% in Texas - lower ratio than 95% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
45.1%
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
$12,744
per pupil, district-wide
- below Texas avg of $13,644
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 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
Hispanic or Latino 100.0%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 100.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 0.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 0.0, Benavides El is less mixed than the Texas school average of 44.7.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Zapata County Isd, which includes Benavides El.
$12,744
Per student
-7%
vs Texas
Avg $13,644
-23%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 30.5%
State 42.2%
Federal 27.3%
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 Benavides El Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapata H S | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Zapata Middle | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Zapata North El | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Fidel and Andrea R Villarreal El | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Zapata South El | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Benavides El's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,065
- Students per teacher
- 14.8:1
- Resource Index
- 39/100
- Enrollment
- 730
- Students per teacher
- 12.8:1
- Resource Index
- 45/100
- Enrollment
- 571
- Students per teacher
- 16.3:1
- Resource Index
- 26/100
- Enrollment
- 445
- Students per teacher
- 13.1:1
- Resource Index
- 32/100
- Enrollment
- 428
- Students per teacher
- 12.6:1
- Resource Index
- 34/100
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Texas, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~51 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~8.5:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Benavides El's federal record.
- Compare Benavides El against another school. Compare schools
- Zapata County Isd'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 Benavides El
How many students attend Benavides El?
Benavides El has 51 students enrolled. It is a public school in San Ygnacio, TX.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Benavides El?
The student-teacher ratio at Benavides El is 8.5:1, which is 42% lower than the Texas average of 14.7:1 and 46% 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 Benavides El?
88.5% of students at Benavides El are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Benavides El?
The largest demographic group at Benavides El is Hispanic or Latino at 100.0% of enrollment, in San Ygnacio, TX.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Benavides El?
Benavides El has a Resource Investment Index of 45/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Benavides El a good school?
Benavides El earns 45/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 95% of Texas schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Texas. 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 Zapata County Isd?
Besides Benavides El, Zapata County Isd also operates Zapata H S (1,065 students), Zapata Middle (730 students), and Zapata North El (571 students). See the Zapata County Isd 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.