Best School Districts in Kansas

Top 50 districts ranked by average school quality score. Based on student-teacher ratios, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance. NCES CCD 2022-23.

50
Districts Ranked
103,790
Students
54/100
Avg Quality Score
KS
State
# District Avg Quality Grade
1. Oskaloosa Public Schools Oskaloosa 61.5 C+
2. Nemaha Central Seneca 61 C+
3. Central Heights Richmond 59 C
4. Cimarron-Ensign Cimarron 58.5 C
5. Central Plains Claflin 58.4 C
6. Riverton Riverton 57.7 C
7. Lakin Lakin 57.7 C
8. Oswego Oswego 57.7 C
9. Bluestem Leon 57.5 C
10. Republic County Belleville 56.5 C
11. Prairie View LaCygne 56 C
12. Douglass Public Schools Douglass 56 C
13. Vermillion Vermillion 55.8 C
14. Kismet-Plains Kismet 55 C
15. Southern Lyon County Hartford 54.8 C-
16. Twin Valley Bennington 54.5 C-
17. Haven Public Schools Haven 54.4 C-
18. Morris County Council Grove 54.3 C-
19. Baxter Springs Baxter Springs 54.3 C-
20. Shawnee Mission Pub Sch Shawnee Mission 54.2 C-
21. Atchison Co Comm Schools Effingham 54 C-
22. Concordia Concordia 53.7 C-
23. Renwick Andale 53.5 C-
24. Beloit Beloit 53.5 C-
25. Silver Lake Silver Lake 53.5 C-
26. Ft Larned Larned 53.3 C-
27. Wellsville Wellsville 53.3 C-
28. Burlington Burlington 53 C-
29. Chaparral Schools Anthony 53 C-
30. Southeast Of Saline Gypsum 53 C-
31. Sedgwick Public Schools Sedgwick 53 C-
32. Clay County Clay Center 52.9 C-
33. Great Bend Great Bend 52.6 C-
34. Syracuse Syracuse 52.5 C-
35. Kaw Valley St. Marys 52 C-
36. Hesston Hesston 52 C-
37. Basehor-Linwood Basehor 51.6 C-
38. Tonganoxie Tonganoxie 51.3 C-
39. Hiawatha Hiawatha 51.3 C-
40. Caney Valley Caney 51.3 C-
41. Piper-Kansas City Kansas City 51.3 C-
42. West Franklin Pomona 51.3 C-
43. Norton Community Schools Norton 51 C-
44. North Ottawa County Minneapolis 51 C-
45. Paola Paola 50.8 C-
46. Riley County Riley 50.5 C-
47. Olathe Olathe 50.4 C-
48. Smoky Valley Lindsborg 50.3 C-
49. Independence Independence 50.2 C-
50. Holcomb Holcomb 50 C-

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best school districts in Kansas? ▼

The top-ranked district in Kansas is Oskaloosa Public Schools in Oskaloosa with 555 students across 2 schools. Average quality score: 61.5/100. Rankings are based on average school quality scores from NCES data.

How are district rankings calculated? ▼

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be ranked.

How many school districts are in Kansas? ▼

Kansas has 50+ school districts serving 478,187 students. The statewide average student-teacher ratio is 14.4:1.

Explore More for Kansas

All Schools → Best Schools → Highest Spending → Funding Equity → Absenteeism Data →

Methodology

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2022-23 metrics: student-teacher ratio, school counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism rates. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be included. This measures school-level resources, not test scores. Higher average scores indicate districts where schools generally have smaller classes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.