Enrollment
570
Kansas · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Other / mixed grade configuration NCES 200873001589
Sunflower Elementary School — Liberal, KS
Federal NCES profile for Sunflower Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 14/100.
👥 Class size 0
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 24
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
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)
22.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
26.5:1
vs 14.4:1 Kansas avg
+84% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
68.6%
vs 42.7% Kansas avg
+61% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Sunflower Elementary School compares with Kansas 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
Sunflower Elementary School reports 570 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 22.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 26.5:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 84% above the Kansas state mean of 14.4:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 67% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 68.6% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 61% above the Kansas average and 32% above the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 570 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 30.4% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Liberal spends $14,048 per pupil district-wide, below the Kansas average of $17,342 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 14.3% from local sources (property taxes), 75.9% from the state, and 9.8% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 14/100 (F), 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 Sunflower Elementary School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Kansas state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Kansas | Kansas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 26.5:1 | ▲ 84% | 14.4:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 68.6% | ▲ 61% | 42.7% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 570 | top 87% | — | — |
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
68.6%
free-lunch eligible
— 61% above the Kansas average of 42.7%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
26.5:1
students per teacher
— 84% above state mean
Top 98% in Kansas — lower ratio than 2% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
30.4%
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
$14,048
per pupil, district-wide
— below Kansas avg of $17,342
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 570 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
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.
Overview
Enrollment 570 Top 87% in Kansas — larger than 13% of 1,354 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 22.0
Students per teacher 26.5:1 +84% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 68.6% +61% vs state
NCES ID 200873001589
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 87.5%
White 7.9%
Two or More 1.9%
African American 1.4%
Asian 1.2%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 87.5% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 1.0
Students per counselor 570:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 30.4%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 0
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Liberal, which includes Sunflower Elementary School.
$14,048
Per student
-19%
vs Kansas
Avg $17,342
-28%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 14.3%
State 75.9%
Federal 9.8%
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
- 1,421
- Students per teacher
- 15.4:1
- Enrollment
- 516
- Students per teacher
- 14:1
- Enrollment
- 500
- Students per teacher
- 15.1:1
- Enrollment
- 472
- Students per teacher
- 12.7:1
- Enrollment
- 426
- Students per teacher
- 13.4:1
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 Sunflower Elementary School
How many students attend Sunflower Elementary School?
Sunflower Elementary School has 570 students enrolled. It is a other school in Liberal, KS.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sunflower Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Sunflower Elementary School is 26.5:1, which is 84% higher than the Kansas average of 14.4:1 and 67% higher than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Sunflower Elementary School?
68.6% of students at Sunflower Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Kansas average of 42.7%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Sunflower Elementary School?
The largest demographic group at Sunflower Elementary School is Hispanic or Latino at 87.5%. The school serves a diverse student body in Liberal, KS.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Sunflower Elementary School?
Sunflower Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 14/100 (F) 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.