Other / mixed grade configuration · Vance, AL

Vance Elementary School

Federal NCES profile for Vance Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 35/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 010339001292
0/100100/10035/100
👥 S:T ratio
31
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
10
📋 Attendance
31
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Vance Elementary School earns 35/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Alabama median.

35
Resource Index · Typical
17.3:1
students per teacher
62.7%
free-lunch eligible
451
students enrolled

Vance Elementary School has class sizes near the Alabama median. Computed live against every Alabama school reporting to NCES.

School address

Enrollment

451

Alabama · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

26.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

17.3:1

vs 17.7:1 Alabama avg

-2% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

62.7%

vs 58.8% Alabama avg

+7% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Vance Elementary School compares with Alabama and U.S. medians

At or below state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Vance Elementary School

Vance Elementary School is a higher-need, mid-sized combined-grade school in Vance, Alabama, enrolling 451 students.

At 17.3:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Alabama median, within a few percentage points of the 17.7:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 62.7% lands close to the Alabama typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

With 451 students, its enrollment sits close to the Alabama median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 1,365 scored Alabama schools.

Against 460 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #301.

Its student body is led by White (60%) and African American (21%) (diversity index 57/100).

Counselor access is stretched at roughly 451 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 27.5% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Tuscaloosa County also operates Tuscaloosa County High School (1,607 students) and Hillcrest High School (1,434 students) alongside Vance Elementary School.

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 Vance Elementary School compares

Vance Elementary School on the metrics families compare, against Alabama and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Alabama Alabama avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 17.3:1 ▼ 2% 17.7:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 62.7% ▲ 7% 58.8% 51.7%
Enrollment 451 top 54% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

17.3:1
Leaner classes than 29% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
451
Bigger than 55% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
62.7%
free-lunch eligible - 7% above the Alabama average of 58.8%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
17.3:1
students per teacher - 2% below state mean
Top 49% in Alabama - lower ratio than 51% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
27.5%
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
$11,186
per pupil, district-wide - below Alabama avg of $12,491
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 451 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
34
in-school suspensions + 9 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 7.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 9.5 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

White 59.9%
African American 20.8%
Hispanic or Latino 16.4%
Two or More 2.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%

Largest group: White at 59.9% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 57.0/100

Simpson diversity index - at 57.0, Vance Elementary School is more mixed than the Alabama school average of 42.5.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Tuscaloosa County, which includes Vance Elementary School.

$11,186
Per student
-10%
vs Alabama
Avg $12,491
-33%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 27.0%
State 58.1%
Federal 14.9%

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.

How Vance Elementary School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Tuscaloosa County High School Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Hillcrest High School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Brookwood High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Lake View Elementary School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Walker Elementary School Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Vance Elementary School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Tuscaloosa County · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Alabama, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Vance Elementary School's federal record.

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 Vance Elementary School

How many students attend Vance Elementary School?

Vance Elementary School has 451 students enrolled. It is a public school in Vance, AL.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Vance Elementary School?

The student-teacher ratio at Vance Elementary School is 17.3:1, which is 2% lower than the Alabama average of 17.7:1 and 10% higher 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 Vance Elementary School?

62.7% of students at Vance Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Alabama average of 58.8%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Vance Elementary School?

The largest demographic group at Vance Elementary School is White at 59.9% of enrollment, in Vance, AL. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 57.0/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Vance Elementary School?

Vance Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 35/100 (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).

Is Vance Elementary School a good school?

Vance Elementary School earns 35/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Alabama 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 Tuscaloosa County?

Besides Vance Elementary School, Tuscaloosa County also operates Tuscaloosa County High School (1,607 students), Hillcrest High School (1,434 students), and Brookwood High School (1,076 students). See the Tuscaloosa County district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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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.