Enrollment
401
Missouri · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Kansas City, MO
Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy
Federal NCES profile for Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 38/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 290002802749Charter school
👥 S:T ratio 48
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 73
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy earns 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Missouri median.
- #33 of 55
- schools in Kansas City · Resource Index
- 38
- Resource Index · Typical
- 12.9:1
- students per teacher
- 99.2%
- free-lunch eligible
Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy has class sizes near the Missouri median. Computed live against every Missouri school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy ranks #33 of 55 schools in Kansas City, MO.
School address
District: Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy · Missouri
NCES ID 290002802749 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
31.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.9:1
vs 12.8:1 Missouri avg
+1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
99.2%
vs 46.1% Missouri avg
+115% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy compares with Missouri and U.S. medians
What stands out at Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy
Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy is a high-poverty, mid-sized charter combined-grade school in Kansas City, Missouri, enrolling 401 students.
At 12.9:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Missouri median, within a few percentage points of the 12.8:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.
Economic need is high: 99.2% of students qualify for free meals, 115% above the Missouri average, a Title I-weighted population that federal funding formulas prioritise.
Enrollment of 401 puts it in the larger third of Missouri schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 2,313 scored Missouri schools.
Against 208 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #127.
Its student body is predominantly African American (94% of enrollment) (diversity index 12/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 134 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 48.4% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy spends $16,042 per pupil, 24% above the Missouri average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 22.6% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Kansas City's public schools, it stands alongside Frontier School of Innovation (645 students): Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (12.9:1 vs 11.1:1).
Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy is a single-school charter district, so Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy operates independently rather than alongside district-mates.
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 Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy compares
Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy on the metrics families compare, against Missouri and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Missouri | Missouri avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 12.9:1 | ▲ 1% | 12.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 99.2% | ▲ 115% | 46.1% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 401 | top 35% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
12.9:1
Leaner classes than 68% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
401
Bigger than 48% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
99.2%
free-lunch eligible
- 115% above the Missouri average of 46.1%
Well above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold, among the highest-need profiles in the state; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
12.9:1
students per teacher
- 1% above state mean
Top 53% in Missouri - lower ratio than 47% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
48.4%
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
$16,042
per pupil, district-wide
- above Missouri avg of $12,931
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 134 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
39
in-school suspensions + 23 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 9.7 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 15.5 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
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
African American 93.8%
Two or More 3.5%
Hispanic or Latino 1.7%
White 0.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.2%
Largest group: African American at 93.8% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 11.9/100
Simpson diversity index - at 11.9, Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy is less mixed than the Missouri school average of 31.0.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy, which includes Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy.
$16,042
Per student
+24%
vs Missouri
Avg $12,931
-3%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 15.9%
State 61.5%
Federal 22.6%
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.
Similar other schools in Kansas City
3 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Missouri, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~401 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~12.9:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy's federal record.
- Compare Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy against another school. Compare schools
- Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy'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 Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy
How many students attend Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy?
Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy has 401 students enrolled. It is a public school in Kansas City, MO.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy?
The student-teacher ratio at Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy is 12.9:1, which is 1% higher than the Missouri average of 12.8:1 and 18% lower than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy?
99.2% of students at Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Missouri average of 46.1%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy?
The largest demographic group at Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy is African American at 93.8% of enrollment, in Kansas City, MO.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy?
Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy has a Resource Investment Index of 38/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy rank among schools in Kansas City?
By Resource Investment Index, Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy ranks #33 of 55 schools in Kansas City, MO. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Kansas City on the city page.
Is Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy a good school?
Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy earns 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Missouri median. 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 Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy?
None; Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy is a single-school charter district, and Lee a. Tolbert Com. Academy is its only campus.
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 June 2026.