Enrollment
1,861
Florida · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Lakeland, FL
Federal NCES profile for Kathleen Senior High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 42/100.
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.
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.
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
How Kathleen Senior High School compares with Florida and U.S. medians
Slightly above state median
20.2:1 - 2.4 above the Florida state median of 17.8:1, indicating larger average class loads than typical schools in the state.
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
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
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.
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 42.1% of enrollment.
Simpson diversity index - at 67.1, Kathleen Senior High School is more mixed than the Florida school average of 52.3.
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Polk, which includes Kathleen Senior High School.
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.
| 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.
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.
Kathleen Senior High School has 1,861 students enrolled. It is a high school in Lakeland, FL.
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.
58.8% of students at Kathleen Senior High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Florida average of 52.0%.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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PlainSchools, “Kathleen Senior High School, Lakeland FL.” Compiled from NCES Common Core of Data, Civil Rights Data Collection, and the NCES F-33 finance survey; data as of June 2026. https://plainschools.com/schools/kathleen-senior-high-school-fl
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