Enrollment
43
North Dakota · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Lignite, ND
Burke Central High School
Federal NCES profile for Burke Central High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 60/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 380359000082
👥 S:T ratio 71
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 91
📋 Attendance 48
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Burke Central High School earns 60/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 86% of North Dakota schools.
- 60
- Resource Index · Higher
- 7.2:1
- small classes for North Dakota
- 29.0%
- free-lunch eligible
- 43
- students enrolled
Burke Central High School has class sizes smaller than 86% of North Dakota schools. Computed live against every North Dakota school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Burke Central 36 · North Dakota
NCES ID 380359000082 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
6.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
7.2:1
vs 11.8:1 North Dakota avg
-39% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
29.0%
vs 28.2% North Dakota avg
+3% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Burke Central High School compares with North Dakota and U.S. medians
What stands out at Burke Central High School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Burke Central High School sits near the smaller end of the North Dakota enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
Resource indicators are the standout signal
Burke Central High School's economic-need measure is not at a state extreme, while its Resource Investment Index is. The campus outranks most North Dakota schools on the combined reported-resource measure, so the differentiator comes from staffing, counselor access, gifted programming, or attendance rather than from an unusually low-need population alone. The component breakdown identifies which inputs actually produce that placement.
A combined-grade campus has a different support burden
Burke Central High School serves a combined grade span rather than a conventional elementary, middle, or high-school band. That structure can require the same campus to cover transitions, counseling needs, and programs for students at substantially different developmental stages, so a single staffing ratio deserves more caution than it would at a narrower-grade school. Federal totals show the available people and programs, but not how those resources are divided among grade levels.
Burke Central High School is a small combined-grade school in Lignite, North Dakota, enrolling 43 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 7.2:1, Burke Central High School is leaner than roughly 86% of North Dakota schools and 39% under the state's 11.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 29.0% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 43 puts it in the smaller third of North Dakota schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 498 scored North Dakota schools.
Against 30 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #12.
Its student body is led by White (74%) and American Indian / Alaska Native (12%) (diversity index 43/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 43 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 20.9% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
The surrounding Burke Central 36 spends $22,657 per pupil, 23% above the North Dakota average, a better-resourced district than most.
Among Lignite's public schools, it stands alongside Burke Central Elementary School (52 students): Burke Central High School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (7.2:1 vs 10.4:1).
Its district, Burke Central 36, also runs Burke Central Elementary School (52 students).
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 Burke Central High School compares
Burke Central High School on the metrics families compare, against North Dakota and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs North Dakota | North Dakota avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 7.2:1 | ▼ 39% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 29.0% | ▲ 3% | 28.2% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 43 | top 87% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
7.2:1
Leaner classes than 96% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
43
Bigger than 5% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
29.0%
free-lunch eligible
- 3% above the North Dakota average of 28.2%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
7.2:1
students per teacher
- 39% below state mean
Top 14% in North Dakota - lower ratio than 86% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
20.9%
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
$22,657
per pupil, district-wide
- above North Dakota avg of $18,450
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 43 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
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.
Student demographics
White 74.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 11.6%
Hispanic or Latino 7.0%
African American 4.7%
Two or More 2.3%
Largest group: White at 74.4% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 42.5/100
Simpson diversity index - at 42.5, Burke Central High School is more mixed than the North Dakota school average of 29.7.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Burke Central 36, which includes Burke Central High School.
$22,657
Per student
+23%
vs North Dakota
Avg $18,450
+37%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 60.2%
State 29.1%
Federal 10.7%
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 Burke Central High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burke Central Elementary School | Similar size | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Burke Central High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 52
- Students per teacher
- 10.4:1
- Resource Index
- 59/100
Similar other schools in Lignite
1 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of North Dakota, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~43 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Burke Central High School's federal record.
- Compare Burke Central High School against another school. Compare schools
- Burke Central 36'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 Burke Central High School
How many students attend Burke Central High School?
Burke Central High School has 43 students enrolled. It is a public school in Lignite, ND.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Burke Central High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Burke Central High School is 7.2:1, which is 39% lower than the North Dakota average of 11.8:1 and 54% 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 Burke Central High School?
29.0% of students at Burke Central High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the North Dakota average of 28.2%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Burke Central High School?
The largest demographic group at Burke Central High School is White at 74.4% of enrollment, in Lignite, ND.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Burke Central High School?
Burke Central High School has a Resource Investment Index of 60/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Burke Central 36?
Besides Burke Central High School, Burke Central 36 also operates Burke Central Elementary School (52 students). See the Burke Central 36 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 July 2026.