Enrollment
2,300
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 480986013935
Lake Belton H S — Temple, TX
Federal NCES profile for Lake Belton H S, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 43/100.
👥 Class size 38
📚 AP courses 55
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 51
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Belton Isd · Texas
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
140.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
15.6:1
vs 14.6:1 Texas avg
+7% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
28.9%
vs 61.9% Texas avg
-53% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Lake Belton H S compares with Texas and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Lake Belton H S reports 2,300 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 140.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 15.6:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 7% above the Texas state mean of 14.6:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 2% lower, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 28.9% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 53% below the Texas average and 44% below the national baseline. The school offers 11 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 627 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 19.7% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Belton Isd spends $12,420 per pupil district-wide, below the Texas average of $17,150 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 38.5% from local sources (property taxes), 49.9% from the state, and 11.5% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (D), calculated from 5 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Lake Belton H S compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Texas state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Texas | Texas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 15.6:1 | ▲ 7% | 14.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 28.9% | ▼ 53% | 61.9% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 2,300 | top 97% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
28.9%
free-lunch eligible
— 53% below the Texas average of 61.9%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
15.6:1
students per teacher
— 7% above state mean
Top 66% in Texas — lower ratio than 34% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
19.7%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Between 10–20% — above the pre-pandemic baseline of ~15% nationally but within the current U.S. range.
Funding equity
$12,420
per pupil, district-wide
— below Texas avg of $17,150
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors3.7 FTE
Per 627 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
181
in-school suspensions + 66 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 7.9 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 10.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 7 expulsions.
Overview
Enrollment 2,300 Top 97% in Texas — larger than 3% of 9,061 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 140.0
Students per teacher 15.6:1 +7% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 28.9% -53% vs state
NCES ID 480986013935
Student demographics
White 51.5%
Hispanic or Latino 29.4%
African American 8.8%
Two or More 6.5%
Asian 2.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.4%
Largest group: White at 51.5% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 11
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 3.7
Students per counselor 627:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 19.7%
In-school suspensions 181
Out-of-school suspensions 66
Expulsions 7
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Belton Isd, which includes Lake Belton H S.
$12,420
Per student
-28%
vs Texas
Avg $17,150
-36%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 38.5%
State 49.9%
Federal 11.5%
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.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,763
- Students per teacher
- 12.4:1
- Enrollment
- 979
- Students per teacher
- 14:1
- Enrollment
- 803
- Students per teacher
- 14.2:1
- Enrollment
- 766
- Students per teacher
- 14.2:1
- Enrollment
- 667
- Students per teacher
- 12.8:1
Similar high schools in Temple
1 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Lake Belton H S
How many students attend Lake Belton H S?
Lake Belton H S has 2,300 students enrolled. It is a high school in TEMPLE, TX.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Lake Belton H S?
The student-teacher ratio at Lake Belton H S is 15.6:1, which is 7% higher than the Texas average of 14.6:1 and 2% lower than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Lake Belton H S?
28.9% of students at Lake Belton H S are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Lake Belton H S?
The largest demographic group at Lake Belton H S is White at 51.5%. The school serves a diverse student body in TEMPLE, TX.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Lake Belton H S?
Lake Belton H S has a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (D) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.