High school (grades 9-12) · Lakeland, FL

Kathleen Senior High School

Federal NCES profile for Kathleen Senior 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 120159001766
0/100100/10042/100
👥 S:T ratio
19
📚 AP courses
55
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
26
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Kathleen Senior High School earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 77% of Florida schools. It is also one of the largest schools in Florida.

#5 of 9
high schools in Lakeland · Resource Index
42
Resource Index · Typical
20.2:1
large classes for Florida
58.8%
free-lunch eligible

Kathleen Senior High School has class sizes larger than 77% of Florida schools. Computed live against every Florida school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Kathleen Senior High School ranks #5 of 9 high schools in Lakeland, FL.

School address

Enrollment

1,861

Florida · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

92.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

20.2:1

vs 17.8:1 Florida avg

+13% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

58.8%

vs 52.0% Florida avg

+13% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Kathleen Senior High School compares with Florida and U.S. medians

Slightly above state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Kathleen Senior High School

Kathleen Senior High School is a higher-need, large high school in Lakeland, Florida, enrolling 1,861 students.

Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 20.2:1 puts it in the larger third of Florida schools by student-teacher ratio.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 58.8% lands close to the Florida typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

By headcount it is one of the larger campuses in Florida, bigger than 95% of state schools at 1,861 students.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 3,996 scored Florida schools.

Against 258 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #31.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (42%) and White (32%) (diversity index 67/100).

On the academic-pipeline side it reports 11 Advanced Placement courses.

Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 372 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.

Its district draws 21.0% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Discipline events run high: 660 in- and out-of-school suspensions were reported for 1,861 students in the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.

The federal civil-rights collection also records 23 expulsions at this campus for 2021-22.

Polk also operates Haines City Senior High School (3,105 students) and Davenport High School (2,731 students) alongside Kathleen Senior High 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 Kathleen Senior High School compares

Kathleen Senior High School on the metrics families compare, against Florida and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Florida Florida avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 20.2:1 ▲ 13% 17.8:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 58.8% ▲ 13% 52.0% 51.7%
Enrollment 1,861 top 5% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

20.2:1
Leaner classes than 15% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
1,861
Bigger than 98% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
58.8%
free-lunch eligible - 13% above the Florida average of 52.0%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
20.2:1
students per teacher - 13% above state mean
Top 77% in Florida - lower ratio than 23% of state schools
Above 20:1, running heavier than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is comparatively stretched.
Funding equity
$11,454
per pupil, district-wide - above Florida avg of $11,167
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors5.0 FTE
Per 372 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
220
in-school suspensions + 440 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 11.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 35.5 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 23 expulsions.

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 42.1%
White 31.8%
African American 22.4%
Two or More 2.4%
Asian 1.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 42.1% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 67.1/100

Simpson diversity index - at 67.1, Kathleen Senior High School is more mixed than the Florida school average of 52.3.

Programs

AP courses offered 11
Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Polk, which includes Kathleen Senior High School.

$11,454
Per student
+3%
vs Florida
Avg $11,167
-31%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 35.2%
State 43.8%
Federal 21.0%

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 Kathleen Senior High School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Haines City Senior High School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Davenport High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Winter Haven Senior High School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Ridge Community High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
George W. Jenkins Senior High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Kathleen Senior High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Polk · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar high schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Florida, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Kathleen Senior High School's federal record.

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 Kathleen Senior High School

How many students attend Kathleen Senior High School?

Kathleen Senior High School has 1,861 students enrolled. It is a high school in Lakeland, FL.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Kathleen Senior High School?

The student-teacher ratio at Kathleen Senior High School is 20.2:1, which is 13% higher than the Florida average of 17.8:1 and 29% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Kathleen Senior High School?

58.8% of students at Kathleen Senior High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Florida average of 52.0%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Kathleen Senior High School?

The largest demographic group at Kathleen Senior High School is Hispanic or Latino at 42.1% of enrollment, in Lakeland, FL. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 67.1/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Kathleen Senior High School?

Kathleen Senior High School has a Resource Investment Index of 42/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Kathleen Senior High School rank among high schools in Lakeland?

By Resource Investment Index, Kathleen Senior High School ranks #5 of 9 high schools in Lakeland, FL. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all high schools in Lakeland on the city page.

Is Kathleen Senior High School a good school?

Kathleen Senior High School earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 77% of Florida schools. It is also one of the largest schools in Florida. 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 Polk?

Besides Kathleen Senior High School, Polk also operates Haines City Senior High School (3,105 students), Davenport High School (2,731 students), and Winter Haven Senior High School (2,648 students). See the Polk district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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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.