Ware County
Ware County is a public school district based in Waycross, Georgia, serving 5,920 students in 9 schools. By enrollment it ranks #59 of the 160 Georgia districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 64% of them. Its schools average 658 students each, about the same as the Georgia median of 662. Its superintendent is Lynn Barber. It spends about $12,144 per student on day-to-day operations, about the state median. It has roughly 13.0 students per teacher.
How Ware County compares
Spending and staffing
| Measure | Ware County | Georgia median | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current spending per student | $12,144 | $11,989 | FY2020-21 |
| Instruction spending per student | $7,575 | $7,267 | FY2020-21 |
| Total spending | $80.0 million | n/a | FY2020-21 |
| Total revenue | $88.8 million | n/a | FY2020-21 |
| Teachers (full-time equivalent) | 457 | n/a | 2024-25 |
| Total staff (full-time equivalent) | 992 | n/a | 2024-25 |
| Students per teacher | 13.0 | 13.9 | 2024-25 |
| Students per counselor | 312 | 425 | 2024-25 |
Spending: NCES school district finance survey (F-33), FY2020-21. Staffing and enrollment: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25. Via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. The Georgia median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.
Leadership
Moves tracker →Lynn Barber
Source: Georgia School Superintendents Association member directory, checked 2026-10-05. Report a change
In the news
0 stories matchedWe haven't matched any stories to Ware County yet. Recent Georgia coverage is on the Georgia page.
Peer districts in Georgia
Compare side by side →| District | Students | Schools | Spending per student | Students per teacher | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buford CityBuford | 6,007 | 5 | $12,212 | 15.8 | #57 |
| Lee CountyLeesburg | 5,949 | 8 | $10,358 | 14.7 | #58 |
| Ware CountyWaycross · this district | 5,920 | 9 | $12,144 | 13.0 | #59 |
| Carrollton CityCarrollton | 5,850 | 4 | $10,298 | 15.8 | #60 |
| Thomas CountyThomasville | 5,818 | 7 | $12,125 | 13.4 | #61 |
Similar-size districts nationally
| District | Students | Spending per student | Students per teacher |
|---|---|---|---|
| McFarland School DistrictMcFarland, WI | 5,921 | $10,799 | 17.2 |
| Plainfield Community School CorporationPlainfield, IN | 5,917 | $8,726 | 18.4 |
| Mooresville Graded School DistrictMooresville, NC | 5,917 | $10,606 | 15.7 |
| Corvallis School District 509JCorvallis, OR | 5,917 | $13,655 | 18.1 |
Peers are the districts closest in enrollment, so they can still differ in many other ways. Enrollment, school counts and phone numbers are from the NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25.
Printed from Superintendent's Corner: https://superintendentscorner.com/district-ga-ware-county