Enrollment
820
Ohio · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 390480003075
Licking Heights Middle School — Pataskala, OH
Federal NCES profile for Licking Heights Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 40/100.
👥 Class size 17
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 18
📋 Attendance 55
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: Licking Heights Local · Ohio
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)
35.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
20.8:1
vs 18.3:1 Ohio avg
+14% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
38.7%
vs 31.6% Ohio avg
+22% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Licking Heights Middle School compares with Ohio 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
Licking Heights Middle School reports 820 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 35.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 20.8:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 14% above the Ohio state mean of 18.3:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 31% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 38.7% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 22% above the Ohio average and 25% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 410 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 18.2% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Licking Heights Local spends $11,771 per pupil district-wide, below the Ohio average of $16,867 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 57.8% from local sources (property taxes), 32.0% from the state, and 10.2% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 40/100 (D), calculated from 4 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 Licking Heights Middle School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Ohio state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Ohio | Ohio avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 20.8:1 | ▲ 14% | 18.3:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 38.7% | ▲ 22% | 31.6% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 820 | top 90% | — | — |
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
38.7%
free-lunch eligible
— 22% above the Ohio average of 31.6%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
20.8:1
students per teacher
— 14% above state mean
Top 80% in Ohio — lower ratio than 20% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
18.2%
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
$11,771
per pupil, district-wide
— below Ohio avg of $16,867
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 410 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
1
in-school suspensions + 97 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.1 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 12.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 820 Top 90% in Ohio — larger than 10% of 3,586 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 35.0
Students per teacher 20.8:1 +14% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 38.7% +22% vs state
NCES ID 390480003075
Student demographics
African American 33.7%
White 30.7%
Asian 26.5%
Hispanic or Latino 5.6%
Two or More 2.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%
Largest group: African American at 33.7% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 410:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 18.2%
In-school suspensions 1
Out-of-school suspensions 97
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Licking Heights Local, which includes Licking Heights Middle School.
$11,771
Per student
-30%
vs Ohio
Avg $16,867
-40%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 57.8%
State 32.0%
Federal 10.2%
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
- 1,428
- Students per teacher
- 20.1:1
- Enrollment
- 836
- Students per teacher
- 18.9:1
- Enrollment
- 745
- Students per teacher
- 22.1:1
- Enrollment
- 682
- Students per teacher
- 21.1:1
- Enrollment
- 550
- Students per teacher
- 20.4:1
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 Licking Heights Middle School
How many students attend Licking Heights Middle School?
Licking Heights Middle School has 820 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Pataskala, OH.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Licking Heights Middle School?
The student-teacher ratio at Licking Heights Middle School is 20.8:1, which is 14% higher than the Ohio average of 18.3:1 and 31% higher than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Licking Heights Middle School?
38.7% of students at Licking Heights Middle School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Ohio average of 31.6%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Licking Heights Middle School?
The largest demographic group at Licking Heights Middle School is African American at 33.7%. The school serves a diverse student body in Pataskala, OH.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Licking Heights Middle School?
Licking Heights Middle School has a Resource Investment Index of 40/100 (D) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.