High school (grades 9-12) · Wauneta, NE

Wauneta-Palisade High School

Federal NCES profile for Wauneta-Palisade High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 42/100.

2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 310001800059
0/100100/10042/100
👥 S:T ratio
47
📚 AP courses
35
🌟 Gifted program
30
🎓 Counselors
68
📋 Attendance
31
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Wauneta-Palisade High School earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Nebraska median.

42
Resource Index · Typical
13.2:1
students per teacher
38.0%
free-lunch eligible
79
students enrolled

Wauneta-Palisade High School has class sizes near the Nebraska median. Computed live against every Nebraska school reporting to NCES.

Enrollment

79

Nebraska · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

6.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

13.2:1

vs 13.5:1 Nebraska avg

-2% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

38.0%

vs 30.9% Nebraska avg

+23% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Wauneta-Palisade High School compares with Nebraska and U.S. medians

At or below state median
0:135:113.2:1

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

What stands out at Wauneta-Palisade High School

Wauneta-Palisade High School is a small high school in Wauneta, Nebraska, enrolling 79 students.

At 13.2:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Nebraska median, within a few percentage points of the 13.5:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.

Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 38.0% of students eligible for free meals.

Enrollment of 79 puts it in the smaller third of Nebraska schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 1,003 scored Nebraska schools.

Among 108 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Nebraska schools statewide, it ranks #95, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.

Its student body is predominantly White (85% of enrollment) (diversity index 27/100).

On the academic-pipeline side it reports 7 Advanced Placement courses.

Counselor coverage is strong, about 158 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 27.8% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Its district draws 15.4% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Wauneta-Palisade Public Schs also operates Palisade Attendance Center (95 students) and Wauneta Palisade Middle School (38 students) alongside Wauneta-Palisade High 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 Wauneta-Palisade High School compares

Wauneta-Palisade High School on the metrics families compare, against Nebraska and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Nebraska Nebraska avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 13.2:1 ▼ 2% 13.5:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 38.0% ▲ 23% 30.9% 51.7%
Enrollment 79 top 85% - -

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

13.2:1
Leaner classes than 65% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
79
Bigger than 8% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
38.0%
free-lunch eligible - 23% above the Nebraska average of 30.9%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
13.2:1
students per teacher - 2% below state mean
Top 53% in Nebraska - lower ratio than 47% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
27.8%
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
$20,519
per pupil, district-wide - above Nebraska avg of $17,680
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.5 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
4
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 5.1 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 5.1 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 84.8%
Hispanic or Latino 11.4%
Two or More 2.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native 1.3%

Largest group: White at 84.8% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 26.7/100

Simpson diversity index - at 26.7, Wauneta-Palisade High School is less mixed than the Nebraska school average of 34.9.

Programs

AP courses offered 7

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Wauneta-Palisade Public Schs, which includes Wauneta-Palisade High School.

$20,519
Per student
+16%
vs Nebraska
Avg $17,680
+24%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 71.8%
State 12.8%
Federal 15.4%

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.

How Wauneta-Palisade High School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Palisade Attendance Center Similar size Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Wauneta Palisade Middle School Smaller Higher economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Wauneta-Palisade High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Wauneta-Palisade Public Schs · 2 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar high schools statewide

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

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Wauneta-Palisade High 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 Wauneta-Palisade High School

How many students attend Wauneta-Palisade High School?

Wauneta-Palisade High School has 79 students enrolled. It is a high school in Wauneta, NE.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Wauneta-Palisade High School?

The student-teacher ratio at Wauneta-Palisade High School is 13.2:1, which is 2% lower than the Nebraska average of 13.5:1 and 16% 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 Wauneta-Palisade High School?

38.0% of students at Wauneta-Palisade High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Nebraska average of 30.9%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Wauneta-Palisade High School?

The largest demographic group at Wauneta-Palisade High School is White at 84.8% of enrollment, in Wauneta, NE.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Wauneta-Palisade High School?

Wauneta-Palisade High School has a Resource Investment Index of 42/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

Is Wauneta-Palisade High School a good school?

Wauneta-Palisade High School earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Nebraska 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 Wauneta-Palisade Public Schs?

Besides Wauneta-Palisade High School, Wauneta-Palisade Public Schs also operates Palisade Attendance Center (95 students) and Wauneta Palisade Middle School (38 students). See the Wauneta-Palisade Public Schs 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.

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.