Enrollment
184
West Virginia · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Duck, WV
Big Otter Elementary School
Federal NCES profile for Big Otter Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 40/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 540024001467
👥 S:T ratio 39
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 8
📋 Attendance 42
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Big Otter Elementary School earns 40/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 80% of West Virginia schools.
- 40
- Resource Index · Typical
- 15.3:1
- large classes for West Virginia
- 184
- students enrolled
Big Otter Elementary School has class sizes larger than 80% of West Virginia schools. Computed live against every West Virginia school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Clay County Schools · West Virginia
NCES ID 540024001467 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
12.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
15.3:1
vs 13.1:1 West Virginia avg
+17% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Big Otter Elementary School compares with West Virginia and U.S. medians
What stands out at Big Otter Elementary School
Big Otter Elementary School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Duck, West Virginia, enrolling 184 students.
Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 15.3:1 puts it in the larger third of West Virginia schools by student-teacher ratio.
Enrollment of 184 puts it in the smaller third of West Virginia schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 643 scored West Virginia schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (96% of enrollment) (diversity index 8/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 460 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 23.4% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Its district draws 23.1% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Clay County Schools also operates Clay County High School (520 students) and Clay Elementary School (431 students) alongside Big Otter Elementary 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 Big Otter Elementary School compares
Big Otter Elementary School on the metrics families compare, against West Virginia and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs West Virginia | West Virginia avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 15.3:1 | ▲ 17% | 13.1:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 184 | top 79% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
15.3:1
Leaner classes than 44% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
184
Bigger than 18% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
15.3:1
students per teacher
- 17% above state mean
Top 80% in West Virginia - lower ratio than 20% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
23.4%
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
$13,825
per pupil, district-wide
- below West Virginia avg of $14,844
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.4 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
11
in-school suspensions + 4 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 6.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 8.2 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 95.7%
Two or More 2.7%
Hispanic or Latino 1.1%
African American 0.5%
Largest group: White at 95.7% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 8.3/100
Simpson diversity index - at 8.3, Big Otter Elementary School is less mixed than the West Virginia school average of 17.9.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Clay County Schools, which includes Big Otter Elementary School.
$13,825
Per student
-7%
vs West Virginia
Avg $14,844
-17%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 10.5%
State 66.4%
Federal 23.1%
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 Big Otter Elementary School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clay County High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Clay Elementary School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Clay Middle School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
| Lizemore Elementary School | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
| H E White Elementary School | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Big Otter Elementary School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 520
- Students per teacher
- 14.9:1
- Resource Index
- 40/100
- Enrollment
- 431
- Students per teacher
- 18:1
- Resource Index
- 40/100
- Enrollment
- 302
- Students per teacher
- 10.8:1
- Resource Index
- 42/100
- Enrollment
- 105
- Students per teacher
- 11.7:1
- Resource Index
- 34/100
- Enrollment
- 71
- Students per teacher
- 8.9:1
- Resource Index
- 41/100
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of West Virginia, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~184 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Big Otter Elementary School's federal record.
- Compare Big Otter Elementary School against another school. Compare schools
- Clay County Schools'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 Big Otter Elementary School
How many students attend Big Otter Elementary School?
Big Otter Elementary School has 184 students enrolled. It is a public school in Duck, WV.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Big Otter Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Big Otter Elementary School is 15.3:1, which is 17% higher than the West Virginia average of 13.1:1 and 3% lower than the national average of 15.7:1.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Big Otter Elementary School?
The largest demographic group at Big Otter Elementary School is White at 95.7% of enrollment, in Duck, WV.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Big Otter Elementary School?
Big Otter Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 40/100 (typical 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 Big Otter Elementary School a good school?
Big Otter Elementary School earns 40/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 80% of West Virginia 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 Clay County Schools?
Besides Big Otter Elementary School, Clay County Schools also operates Clay County High School (520 students), Clay Elementary School (431 students), and Clay Middle School (302 students). See the Clay County Schools 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.