Regular local school district · Polk County
Polk County Schools, NC: schools, enrollment and spending
Polk County Schools runs 7 public schools with 2,110 students in grades PK to 12. Its ratio of 14.2 students per teacher is 2.1 lower than the North Carolina figure of 16.3.
At a glance
- Schools
- 7
- Students
- 2,110
- Teachers (FTE)
- 149
- Students per teacher
- 14.2
- NC: 16.3 · US: 15.3
- Address
- 125 E Mills Street, Columbus, NC 28722
- Phone
- (828)894-3051
- County
- Polk County
- Locale
- Rural: Distant
- Grades offered
- PK to 12
- Agency type
- Regular local school district
- NCES district ID
- 3703720
- State district ID
- NC-750
- School counselors (FTE)
- 8.0About 264 students per counselor.
Students per teacher compared
This district14.2
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 (2,154), which can differ from 2024-25 enrollment.
- Total revenue
- $29.2 million
- Federal revenue
- $4.3 million
- State revenue
- $18.2 million
- Local revenue
- $6.7 million
- Total spending
- $28.4 million
- Spending per pupil
- $13,196
- Salaries
- $16.9 million59.6% of total spending.
- Long-term debt (end of year)
- $6.7 million
Where revenue came from
- Federal: 14.7%
- State: 62.5%
- Local: 22.8%
North Carolina overall
- Federal: 12.1%
- State: 61.7%
- Local: 26.2%
Spending per pupil compared
This district$13,196
North Carolina$11,869
United States$16,826
Schools in Polk County Schools
By level: 2 high, 1 middle, 4 elementary. A CEP school serves free meals to all students.
| Polk Central Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 379 | 16.5 |
| Polk County Early College | High | 9 to 12 | 52 | 26.0 |
| Polk County High School | High | 9 to 12 | 596 | 18.6 |
| Polk County Middle School | Middle | 6 to 8 | 454 | 11.3 |
| Saluda Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 142 | 10.9 |
| Sunny View Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 120 | 12.0 |
| Tryon Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 367 | 14.1 |
Nearby and related
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.