Enrollment
1,115
Alabama · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 010027002073
Spanish Fort High School — Spanish Fort, AL
Federal NCES profile for Spanish Fort High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 46/100.
👥 Class size 28
📚 AP courses 80
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 44
📋 Attendance 47
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: Baldwin County · Alabama
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)
66.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
18:1
vs 17.8:1 Alabama avg
+1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
20.5%
vs 58.8% Alabama avg
-65% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Spanish Fort High School compares with Alabama 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
Spanish Fort High School reports 1,115 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 66.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 18:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 1% above the Alabama state mean of 17.8:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 13% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 20.5% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 65% below the Alabama average and 60% below the national baseline. The school offers 16 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 279 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 21.3% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Baldwin County spends $14,037 per pupil district-wide, below the Alabama average of $14,500 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 52.2% from local sources (property taxes), 37.3% from the state, and 10.5% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 46/100 (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 Spanish Fort High School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Alabama state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Alabama | Alabama avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 18:1 | ▲ 1% | 17.8:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 20.5% | ▼ 65% | 58.8% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 1,115 | top 95% | — | — |
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
20.5%
free-lunch eligible
— 65% below the Alabama average of 58.8%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
18:1
students per teacher
— 1% above state mean
Top 56% in Alabama — lower ratio than 44% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
21.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$14,037
per pupil, district-wide
— below Alabama avg of $14,500
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors4.0 FTE
Per 279 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
271
in-school suspensions + 161 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 24.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 38.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 8 expulsions.
Overview
Enrollment 1,115 Top 95% in Alabama — larger than 5% of 1,369 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 66.0
Students per teacher 18:1 +1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 20.5% -65% vs state
NCES ID 010027002073
Student demographics
White 79.2%
African American 7.2%
Two or More 6.2%
Hispanic or Latino 5.7%
Asian 1.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%
Largest group: White at 79.2% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 16
Counselors (FTE) 4.0
Students per counselor 279:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 21.3%
In-school suspensions 271
Out-of-school suspensions 161
Expulsions 8
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Baldwin County, which includes Spanish Fort High School.
$14,037
Per student
-3%
vs Alabama
Avg $14,500
-28%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 52.2%
State 37.3%
Federal 10.5%
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
- 1,639
- Students per teacher
- 19.2:1
- Enrollment
- 1,536
- Students per teacher
- 16.3:1
- Enrollment
- 1,520
- Students per teacher
- 18.3:1
- Enrollment
- 1,418
- Students per teacher
- 18.8:1
- Enrollment
- 1,081
- Students per teacher
- 16.2:1
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 Spanish Fort High School
How many students attend Spanish Fort High School?
Spanish Fort High School has 1,115 students enrolled. It is a high school in Spanish Fort, AL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Spanish Fort High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Spanish Fort High School is 18:1, which is 1% higher than the Alabama average of 17.8:1 and 13% higher than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Spanish Fort High School?
20.5% of students at Spanish Fort High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Alabama average of 58.8%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Spanish Fort High School?
The largest demographic group at Spanish Fort High School is White at 79.2%. The school serves a diverse student body in Spanish Fort, AL.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Spanish Fort High School?
Spanish Fort High School has a Resource Investment Index of 46/100 (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.