Enrollment
243
Tennessee · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Big Sandy, TN
Big Sandy School
Federal NCES profile for Big Sandy School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 49/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 470024000049
👥 S:T ratio 73
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 51
📋 Attendance 41
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Big Sandy School earns 49/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 97% of Tennessee schools. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Tennessee schools.
- 49
- Resource Index · Higher
- 6.8:1
- small classes for Tennessee
- 243
- students enrolled
Big Sandy School has class sizes smaller than 97% of Tennessee schools. Computed live against every Tennessee school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Benton County · Tennessee
NCES ID 470024000049 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
36.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
6.8:1
vs 15.3:1 Tennessee avg
-56% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Big Sandy School compares with Tennessee and U.S. medians
What stands out at Big Sandy School
Big Sandy School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Big Sandy, Tennessee, enrolling 243 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 6.8:1, Big Sandy School is leaner than roughly 97% of Tennessee schools and 56% under the state's 15.3:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Enrollment of 243 puts it in the smaller third of Tennessee schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,838 scored Tennessee schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (96% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 8/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 243 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 23.5% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Its district draws 29.1% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Benton County also operates Camden Central High School (563 students) and Camden Elementary (442 students) alongside Big Sandy 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 Sandy School compares
Big Sandy School on the metrics families compare, against Tennessee and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Tennessee | Tennessee avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 6.8:1 | ▼ 56% | 15.3:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 243 | top 84% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
6.8:1
Leaner classes than 97% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
243
Bigger than 24% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
6.8:1
students per teacher
- 56% below state mean
Top 3% in Tennessee - lower ratio than 97% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
23.5%
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
$11,334
per pupil, district-wide
- above Tennessee avg of $10,822
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 243 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
8
in-school suspensions + 8 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 3.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 6.6 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 95.9%
Two or More 2.5%
Hispanic or Latino 1.2%
African American 0.4%
Largest group: White at 95.9% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 8.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 8.0, Big Sandy School is less mixed than the Tennessee school average of 38.3.
Programs
AP courses offered 3
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Benton County, which includes Big Sandy School.
$11,334
Per student
+5%
vs Tennessee
Avg $10,822
-32%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 26.0%
State 44.9%
Federal 29.1%
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 Sandy School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camden Central High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Camden Elementary | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Briarwood School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Camden Jr High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Holladay Elementary | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Big Sandy School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 563
- Students per teacher
- 18.2:1
- Resource Index
- 45/100
- Enrollment
- 442
- Students per teacher
- 13:1
- Resource Index
- 35/100
- Enrollment
- 395
- Students per teacher
- 14.6:1
- Resource Index
- 49/100
- Enrollment
- 373
- Students per teacher
- 14.9:1
- Resource Index
- 51/100
- Enrollment
- 134
- Students per teacher
- 11.2:1
- Resource Index
- 49/100
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Tennessee, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~243 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Big Sandy School's federal record.
- Compare Big Sandy School against another school. Compare schools
- Benton County'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 Sandy School
How many students attend Big Sandy School?
Big Sandy School has 243 students enrolled. It is a public school in Big Sandy, TN.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Big Sandy School?
The student-teacher ratio at Big Sandy School is 6.8:1, which is 56% lower than the Tennessee average of 15.3:1 and 57% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Big Sandy School?
The largest demographic group at Big Sandy School is White at 95.9% of enrollment, in Big Sandy, TN.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Big Sandy School?
Big Sandy School has a Resource Investment Index of 49/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 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 Big Sandy School a good school?
Big Sandy School earns 49/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 97% of Tennessee schools. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Tennessee 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 Benton County?
Besides Big Sandy School, Benton County also operates Camden Central High School (563 students), Camden Elementary (442 students), and Briarwood School (395 students). See the Benton County 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.