Enrollment
36
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Ekalaka, MT
Carter County High School
Federal NCES profile for Carter County High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 42/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 300561000162
👥 S:T ratio 71
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 64
📋 Attendance 3
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Carter County High School earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 83% of Montana schools.
- #3 of 3
- public schools in Ekalaka · Resource Index
- 42
- Resource Index · Typical
- 7.2:1
- small classes for Montana
- 36
- students enrolled
Carter County High School has class sizes smaller than 83% of Montana schools. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Carter County High School ranks #3 of 3 public schools in Ekalaka, MT.
School address
District: Carter County H S · Montana
NCES ID 300561000162 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
5.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
7.2:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-39% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Carter County High School compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Carter County High School
Teacher staffing is the clearest operational strength
Carter County High School's enrollment is not at an extreme, but its student-teacher ratio is: it reports fewer students per teacher than most Montana schools. This is the most distinctive scale-adjusted signal in the federal record. It should be read as staffing capacity, not class size or an academic outcome; the page separately reports attendance, program access, demographics, and district finance so a single favorable ratio does not become an unsupported overall rating.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Carter County High School's 38.9% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Carter County High School is a mid-sized high school in Ekalaka, Montana, enrolling 36 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 7.2:1 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by student-teacher ratio.
Enrollment of 36 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 826 scored Montana schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (92% of enrollment) (diversity index 15/100).
No Advanced Placement courses are reported for this campus in the federal data.
Counselor coverage is strong, about 180 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 38.9% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Carter County H S spends $32,419 per pupil, 63% above the Montana average, a better-resourced district than most.
Carter County H S operates only this one school, so Carter County High School has no district-mates to compare against locally.
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 Carter County High School compares
Carter County High School on the metrics families compare, against Montana and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Montana | Montana avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 7.2:1 | ▼ 39% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 36 | top 68% | - | - |
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.
36
Bigger than 4% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
7.2:1
students per teacher
- 39% below state mean
Top 17% in Montana - lower ratio than 83% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
38.9%
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
$32,419
per pupil, district-wide
- above Montana avg of $19,859
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.2 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 2 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 5.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 91.7%
Two or More 8.3%
Largest group: White at 91.7% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 15.2/100
Simpson diversity index - at 15.2, Carter County High School is less mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
AP program Not offered
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Carter County H S, which includes Carter County High School.
$32,419
Per student
+63%
vs Montana
Avg $19,859
+84%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 68.2%
State 25.5%
Federal 6.3%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Montana, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~36 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~7.2:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Carter County High School's federal record.
- Compare Carter County High School against another school. Compare schools
- Carter County H S'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 Carter County High School
How many students attend Carter County High School?
Carter County High School has 36 students enrolled. It is a high school in Ekalaka, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Carter County High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Carter County High School is 7.2:1, which is 39% lower than the Montana 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 is the racial and ethnic makeup of Carter County High School?
The largest demographic group at Carter County High School is White at 91.7% of enrollment, in Ekalaka, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Carter County High School?
Carter County High School has a Resource Investment Index of 42/100 (typical 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).
How does Carter County High School rank among public schools in Ekalaka?
By Resource Investment Index, Carter County High School ranks #3 of 3 public schools in Ekalaka, MT. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking.
What other schools are in Carter County H S?
None reported; Carter County H S operates only Carter County High School as a public school district in NCES's records.
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, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.