Regular local school district · Burke County
Burke County Schools, NC: schools, enrollment and spending
Burke County Schools runs 27 public schools with 11,667 students in grades PK to 12. Its ratio of 16.8 students per teacher is about the same as the North Carolina figure of 16.3.
At a glance
- Schools
- 27
- Students
- 11,667
- Teachers (FTE)
- 694
- Students per teacher
- 16.8
- NC: 16.3 · US: 15.3
- Address
- 700 East Parker Road, Morganton, NC 28655
- Phone
- (828)439-4311
- County
- Burke County
- Locale
- Suburb: Midsize
- Grades offered
- PK to 12
- Agency type
- Regular local school district
- NCES district ID
- 3700480
- State district ID
- NC-120
- School counselors (FTE)
- 28.0About 417 students per counselor.
Students per teacher compared
This district16.8
North Carolina16.3
United States15.3
2020 finance data
From the F-33 School District Finance Survey for fiscal year 2020, in nominal dollars. Enrollment used for per-pupil figures is the finance survey count (11,733), which can differ from 2024-25 enrollment.
- Total revenue
- $124.8 million
- Federal revenue
- $17.0 million
- State revenue
- $86.4 million
- Local revenue
- $21.4 million
- Total spending
- $125.0 million
- Spending per pupil
- $10,655
- Salaries
- $68.4 million54.8% of total spending.
- Long-term debt (end of year)
- $30.3 million
Where revenue came from
- Federal: 13.6%
- State: 69.2%
- Local: 17.2%
North Carolina overall
- Federal: 12.1%
- State: 61.7%
- Local: 26.2%
Spending per pupil compared
This district$10,655
North Carolina$11,869
United States$16,826
Schools in Burke County Schools
By level: 6 high, 5 middle, 14 elementary, 2 other. A CEP school serves free meals to all students.
| Burke Middle College | High | 11 to 12 | 130 | 43.3 |
| Burke Virtual Academy | Other | K to 12 | 0 | |
| Draughn High School | High | 9 to 12 | 661 | 27.5 |
| Drexel Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 477 | 16.4 |
| East Burke High | High | 9 to 12 | 874 | 23.6 |
| East Burke Middle | Middle | 6 to 8 | 630 | 16.2 |
| Forest Hill Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 305 | 16.1 |
| Freedom High | High | 9 to 12 | 1,299 | 22.8 |
| George Hildebrand Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 327 | 14.9 |
| Glen Alpine Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 295 | 13.4 |
| Hallyburton Academy | High | 6 to 12 | 73 | 9.1 |
| Heritage Middle | Middle | 6 to 8 | 475 | 16.4 |
| Hildebran Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 297 | 18.6 |
| Hillcrest Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 254 | 14.1 |
| Icard Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 265 | 13.2 |
| Liberty Middle | Middle | 6 to 8 | 453 | 16.2 |
| Mountain View Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 762 | 14.7 |
| Mull Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 291 | 14.6 |
| North Liberty | Other | PK to 12 | 72 | 6.5 |
| Oak Hill Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 310 | 15.5 |
| Patton High School | High | 9 to 12 | 756 | 24.4 |
| Ray Childers Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 460 | 15.9 |
| Salem Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 476 | 17.0 |
| Table Rock Middle | Middle | 6 to 8 | 427 | 14.2 |
| Valdese Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 530 | 18.3 |
| W A Young Elementary | Elementary | PK to 5 | 327 | 13.1 |
| Walter R Johnson Middle | Middle | 6 to 8 | 441 | 13.0 |
Nearby and related
Other districts in Burke County
- The New Dimensions School 569 students
- NC School for the Deaf 64 students
More in North Carolina
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 and F-33 finance 2020, via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. Last reviewed October 2026. Finance figures are 2020 finance data in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation. Blank values are not available, not applicable or suppressed in the source. See the methodology.