District profile / Washington

Meridian School District

Bellingham, Washington · Public school district · #114 of 150 Washington districts by enrollment

Compare with peers

1,904

Students

2024-25 school year

Schools

2024-25 school year

$13,383

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · 10% below the Washington median

18.5

Students per teacher

2024-25 · Washington median 18.3

Meridian School District is a public school district based in Bellingham, Washington, serving 1,904 students in 6 schools. By enrollment it ranks #114 of the 150 Washington districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 24% of them. Its schools average 317 students each, fewer than the Washington median of 435. It spends about $13,383 per student on day-to-day operations, 10% less than the Washington median. It has roughly 18.5 students per teacher.

How Meridian compares

MeridianWashington median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$13,383

Washington median $14,904 · 10% below · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$7,789

Washington median $8,883 · 12% below · FY2020-21

Students per school317

Washington median 435 · 27% below · 2024-25

Students per teacher18.5

Washington median 18.3 · about the same · 2024-25

Students per counselor317

Washington median 368 · 14% below · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$28.1 million in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 7%State 72%Local 21%

Measure	Meridian	Washington median	Year
Current spending per student	$13,383	$14,904	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$7,789	$8,883	FY2020-21
Total spending	$26.0 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$28.1 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	103	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	213	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	18.5	18.3	2024-25
Students per counselor	317	368	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 Washington median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

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Peer districts in Washington

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Eatonville School DistrictEatonville	1,995	7	$13,938	18.5	#112
Blaine School DistrictBlaine	1,983	7	$15,125	19.3	#113
Meridian School DistrictBellingham · this district	1,904	6	$13,383	18.5	#114
Medical Lake School DistrictMedical Lake	1,842	4	$14,523	16.3	#115
La Center School DistrictLa Center	1,823	4	$13,323	18.4	#116

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Ozark CityOzark, AL	1,905	$11,302	16.6
Streetsboro CityStreetsboro, OH	1,905	$13,211	15.6
Columbia CUSD 4Columbia, IL	1,904	$13,065	15.2
Iowa Park CISDIowa Park, TX	1,904	$10,157	13.2

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-wa-meridian-school-district