Enrollment
16
Maine · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Southport, ME
Southport Central School
Federal NCES profile for Southport Central School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 50/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 231236000588
👥 S:T ratio 79
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 92
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Southport Central School earns 50/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 97% of Maine schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Maine.
- 50
- Resource Index · Higher
- 5.3:1
- small classes for Maine
- 15.8%
- free-lunch eligible
- 16
- students enrolled
Southport Central School has class sizes smaller than 97% of Maine schools. Computed live against every Maine school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Southport Public Schools · Maine
NCES ID 231236000588 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
3.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
5.3:1
vs 11.1:1 Maine avg
-52% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
15.8%
vs 34.0% Maine avg
-54% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Southport Central School compares with Maine and U.S. medians
What stands out at Southport Central School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Southport Central School sits near the smaller end of the Maine enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
Lower need and stronger resource signals align
Southport Central School reports lower free-meal eligibility than most Maine schools and an above-typical Resource Investment Index. The two measures move together, a pattern consistent with the resource advantages that often accompany a lower-need intake. That association should not be mistaken for a causal verdict about the school; it is a transparent description of how this campus sits on two independent federal-data dimensions.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Southport Central School's 50.0% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Southport Central School is a lower-poverty, small elementary school in Southport, Maine, enrolling 16 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 5.3:1, Southport Central School is leaner than roughly 97% of Maine schools and 52% under the state's 11.1:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 15.8% of students eligible for free meals.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 97% of Maine schools, with 16 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 569 scored Maine schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (100% of enrollment) (diversity index 0/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 40 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 50.0% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Southport Public Schools spends $28,103 per pupil, 40% above the Maine average, a better-resourced district than most.
Southport Public Schools operates only this one school, so Southport Central School has no district-mates to compare against locally. At 16 students, it is also a small operation, on the smaller end of Maine's single-school districts.
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 Southport Central School compares
Southport Central School on the metrics families compare, against Maine and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Maine | Maine avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 5.3:1 | ▼ 52% | 11.1:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 15.8% | ▼ 54% | 34.0% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 16 | top 97% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
5.3:1
Leaner classes than 98% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
16
Bigger than 2% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
15.8%
free-lunch eligible
- 54% below the Maine average of 34.0%
Below the 40% Title I threshold, among the lower-need profiles in the state; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
5.3:1
students per teacher
- 52% below state mean
Top 3% in Maine - lower ratio than 97% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
50.0%
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
$28,103
per pupil, district-wide
- above Maine avg of $20,083
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.4 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 100.0%
Largest group: White at 100.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 0.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 0.0, Southport Central School is less mixed than the Maine school average of 20.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Southport Public Schools, which includes Southport Central School.
$28,103
Per student
+40%
vs Maine
Avg $20,083
+69%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 86.6%
State 9.0%
Federal 4.4%
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 elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Maine, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~16 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~5.3:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Southport Central School's federal record.
- Compare Southport Central School against another school. Compare schools
- Southport Public Schools'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 Southport Central School
How many students attend Southport Central School?
Southport Central School has 16 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Southport, ME.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Southport Central School?
The student-teacher ratio at Southport Central School is 5.3:1, which is 52% lower than the Maine average of 11.1:1 and 66% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Southport Central School?
15.8% of students at Southport Central School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Maine average of 34.0%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Southport Central School?
The largest demographic group at Southport Central School is White at 100.0% of enrollment, in Southport, ME.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Southport Central School?
Southport Central School has a Resource Investment Index of 50/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Southport Public Schools?
None reported; Southport Public Schools operates only Southport Central School as a public school district in NCES's records.
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 July 2026.