Ballard County vs Cossatot River School District
KY · 1,015 students • AR · 855 students • fiscal year 2024 • swap sides
In one line
- Cossatot River School District spends 4% more per student than Ballard County after adjusting for local price levels.
- Both direct a similar share of each operating dollar to classrooms.
- Ballard County is far more dependent on local property taxes (32% of revenue vs 13%), which ties its budget more tightly to local property values.
- Cossatot River School District reports fewer students per teacher (9.1 vs 15.4). This is a staffing ratio, not an average class size.
Are these even comparable?
Establish the shape of each district before reading a single dollar figure.
| Ballard County | Cossatot River School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Students enrolled | 1,015 | 855 |
| Schools | 5 | 4 |
| Grades served | PK–12 | K–12 |
| Setting | Rural | Rural |
| County | Ballard County | Polk County |
| State | KY | AR |
| Local price level (US = 100) Above 100 means a dollar buys less here than the national average. | 86.1 | 86.9 |
The headline dollar
Current operating spending per student, shown three ways. The first is what each district reports. The second and third are the honest ones for comparison.
| Ballard County | Cossatot River School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Per student, as reported | $14,370 | $15,104 |
| Per student, price-adjusted Divided by the local price level, so both figures are in the same money. | $16,693 | $17,373 |
| Per student, price-adjusted, excluding transport Transportation provision varies enormously between districts and states. Removing it compares the parts both districts actually do. | $15,835 | $16,714 |
| Capital spending per student Buildings and land, never folded into the operating figures above. It is lumpy: a district mid-build looks expensive for two years. | Locked | Locked |
Ballard County
Cossatot River School District
Where the money comes from
The funding mix determines how exposed a district is to local property values, to state politics, and to federal programmes ending.
Ballard County
- Local 31.8% Locked
- State 46.0% Locked
- Federal 22.2% Locked
Cossatot River School District
- Local 12.7% Locked
- State 70.7% Locked
- Federal 16.7% Locked
| Ballard County | Cossatot River School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Local share of revenue Mostly property tax. A high share means school budgets track local property values, up and down. | 31.8% | 12.7% |
| State share of revenue | 46.0% | 70.7% |
| Federal share of revenue | 22.2% | 16.7% |
| Total revenue | Locked | Locked |
How KY funds its districts
We have not yet written up KY's funding formula, so nothing is claimed here.
How AR funds its districts
We have not yet written up AR's funding formula, so nothing is claimed here.
Where the money goes
The same slices in the same order for both districts, plus the differences by function — because two pie charts side by side hide exactly the thing you want to see.
Ballard County
- Instruction 51.8% Locked
- Instructional staff support 2.9% Locked
- Student support 3.4% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 9.4% Locked
- Transportation 5.1% Locked
- Food service 7.6% Locked
- School administration 5.0% Locked
- District administration 4.0% Locked
- Other support 2.9% Locked
- Other current 8.3% Locked
Cossatot River School District
- Instruction 47.6% Locked
- Instructional staff support 7.5% Locked
- Student support 6.3% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 13.8% Locked
- Transportation 3.8% Locked
- Food service 6.9% Locked
- School administration 4.3% Locked
- District administration 2.1% Locked
- Other support 4.4% Locked
- Other current 7.3% Locked
What is actually different
Share of each district's operating dollar, Ballard County minus Cossatot River School District. Two pie charts side by side are almost impossible to read against each other; this is the same data as one chart.
| Ballard County | Cossatot River School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Cents of each operating dollar reaching classrooms Instruction plus instructional staff support, as a share of current spending. | 54.7% | 55.1% |
| Administration share District office plus school administration. | 9.0% | 6.3% |
| Transportation share | 5.1% | 3.8% |
What the money buys
Staffing levels are the most direct thing a budget converts into.
| Ballard County | Cossatot River School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher This is a staffing ratio: total enrollment divided by teaching staff. It is NOT average class size. Actual classes are larger than this number in every district. | 15.4 | 9.1 |
| Students per counselor | Locked | Locked |
| Students per administrator | Locked | Locked |
| Total salaries All staff, not teachers alone. | Locked | Locked |
Who they serve
The answer to "but they serve different kids" — which is usually a fair objection.
| Ballard County | Cossatot River School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Child poverty rate Children aged 5 to 17 in poverty within the district boundary. Used instead of free-lunch eligibility, which community eligibility has made unusable for comparison. | 20.8% | 20.7% |
| English learners | 0 | 0 |
| Students with disabilities | 0 | 0 |
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -14.6% | -11.6% |
Results, and results for the money
Stability and risk
The homebuyer’s real question: what is likely to change after I move in?
Ballard County
- Declining enrollment Enrollment fell more than 5% over five years. Enrollment decline is the single best predictor of school closures and programme cuts.
- Federal cliff exposure More than 20% of revenue is federal, a share that is unusually exposed when temporary federal programmes end.
- Low share reaching classrooms Under 55% of current spending reaches instruction and instructional support, low against national practice.
Cossatot River School District
- Declining enrollment Enrollment fell more than 5% over five years. Enrollment decline is the single best predictor of school closures and programme cuts.
| Ballard County | Cossatot River School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -14.6% | -11.6% |
| Long-term debt per student | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service share of spending | Locked | Locked |
Enrolling a child
Is a seat at your zoned school guaranteed?
Ballard County
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
Cossatot River School District
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
- This is the district’s own published wording, not our summary of it. Policies are rewritten between enrollment seasons and a page can be out of date the day after we read it — the school office is the only authority on whether a particular grade at a particular school is full right now.
- A warning here is about capacity, not about your address. It does not mean your child will be moved; it means the district has told you in writing that it may move them.
Comparability notes
- Cross-state comparison. Dollars below are shown both as reported and adjusted to a common price level, because a dollar buys different amounts of teacher in KY and AR.
- At least one district sits outside a metro area with its own published price index, so its cost adjustment uses the statewide index. That is a coarser adjustment.
What these numbers are, exactly
Who decides, and what it costs you
Every band above this one asks what a district spends. This one asks who chose to.
Ballard County
The district levies its own school tax
This district raises property tax in its own name. Who sets the rate varies by state — an elected board in some, a public vote in others — but the levy is the school system’s own, and it is the part of a tax bill that school politics moves most directly.
Cossatot River School District
The district levies its own school tax
This district raises property tax in its own name. Who sets the rate varies by state — an elected board in some, a public vote in others — but the levy is the school system’s own, and it is the part of a tax bill that school politics moves most directly.
| Ballard County | Cossatot River School District | |
|---|---|---|
| School property tax levied, per student Only for districts that levy in their own name. Blank where the county or town levies instead — see the cards above, and read the next row. | $4,069 | $1,110 |
| Appropriated by the county or town, per student What the parent government handed the schools, for dependent systems. This is a general appropriation, not solely property tax. | — | — |
| Property tax as a share of all revenue How much of the budget rides on local property values, and therefore on local votes. | 22.9% | 6.6% |
| Long-term debt already owed, per student The balance at the end of the year, for scale. Repaid over decades, so it is a commitment made by earlier boards rather than a bill arriving now. | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service as a share of spending Interest plus principal repaid this year, against total spending. This is the part of the debt that is being paid now, out of money that would otherwise reach a classroom. | Locked | Locked |
| New long-term debt issued, per student Money borrowed during fiscal year 2024. What this figure does and does not tell you is set out under the table. | $0 | $0 |
- Ballard County: issued no new long-term debt in fiscal year 2024. That is a reported zero, not a gap in the data.
- Cossatot River School District: issued no new long-term debt in fiscal year 2024. That is a reported zero, not a gap in the data.
- A figure in the borrowing row is not a bond voters approved. It records debt issued, and that includes refinancing existing debt at a new rate — which changes nothing about what a district owes — as well as certificates of participation and lease-revenue debt, which in many states a board can issue with no referendum at all. To find out what was actually on a ballot, check the county election office.
- Debt is repaid over decades. A large balance per student is a commitment made by earlier boards and earlier voters, not a bill arriving this year. The debt service row above it is the part being paid now.
Who sits on the board
Cossatot River School District board of education
- Mark Duggan — President
- Rusty Youngblood — Vice President
- Jared Strother — Secretary
- Leona Scott — Member
Read from the district’s own board page on 2026-08-31. Boards change; the district’s page is the current record, not ours.
These seats are elected, and what this board decides — the budget, the attendance boundaries, the calendar — is decided at a meeting the public may attend. The district’s own board page, linked above, is where it publishes the schedule and the agenda. We do not hold meeting dates or contact details for these people.
What this band does not answer yet
The detailed figures for Ballard County and Cossatot River School District
The verdict, the headline dollar, the funding shares, who is served and every comparability caveat are free above, and stay free. What is behind the lock is the detail you would want before acting on any of it:
- capital spending per student
- total revenue and total current spending, and the funding mix in dollars (the percentage shares stay free)
- the ten-line per-student breakdown of where the money goes
- counselor and administrator ratios, and the total salary bill
- the debt behind the risk flags — per student, and as a share of spending
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Compare something else
Ballard County on its own · Cossatot River School District on its own