How We Report This
Why some numbers are hidden
We want you to be able to see how every school is doing. We also never want a reader to be able to work out how one specific child did. Here is exactly how we balance those two things.
Groups of fewer than 10 are not shown
If a result would describe fewer than 10 students, whether that is a whole grade, a school, or a smaller group within a school, we do not publish it. You will see "n < 10" in its place. That is not us hiding bad news. A very small group is small enough that a neighbor could often guess who is in it, and no test score is anyone else's to know.
Sometimes we hide a second group too
Imagine a school publishes a total of 40 students in one grade and shows every group's count except one. Anyone can get that missing group's exact size just by subtracting. So when hiding one group would let a reader do that subtraction, we hide a second group as well, even though that second group might be plenty big enough on its own. This is why a page sometimes shows more hidden values than you would expect from the 10-student rule alone.
Suppose a school has 40 students in one grade, sorted into four groups. These counts are an example only, not real Caldwell County figures.
Step 1: one group hidden
| Group | Students |
|---|---|
| Group A | 13 |
| Group B | 12 |
| Group C | 11 |
| Group D | n < 10. This is a hypothetical example. On a real page, a hidden count means the group has fewer than 10 students, or would let a reader work out one that does. |
| Total | 40 |
40 − 13 − 12 − 11 = 4. Anyone can subtract their way to Group D's exact count, even though it was never published.
Step 2: a second group hidden too
| Group | Students |
|---|---|
| Group A | 13 |
| Group B | 12 |
| Group C | n < 10. This is a hypothetical example. On a real page, a hidden count means the group has fewer than 10 students, or would let a reader work out one that does. |
| Group D | n < 10. This is a hypothetical example. On a real page, a hidden count means the group has fewer than 10 students, or would let a reader work out one that does. |
| Total | 40 |
40 − 13 − 12 = 15. That is Group C and Group D added together, with no way to tell from this table how much of it belongs to either one.
n < 10This is a hypothetical example. On a real page, a hidden count means the group has fewer than 10 students, or would let a reader work out one that does.
Both hidden counts above are marked exactly the same way. If a hidden count looked different depending on why it was hidden, a reader could tell which one was actually the small one, and that would undo the protection.
Tables that sort students two ways need extra care
Some of our tables sort students by school and by group at the same time, with a total printed at the end of every row and every column. A reader could work out a hidden number by subtracting along a row instead of just the total, so for these tables we check every row and every column, not only the whole. It can mean a table hides more cells than a simple list would, and that is the tradeoff working the way it should.
What a hidden number means for your school
A hidden number on your own school's page does not mean something went wrong, and it does not mean we are hiding anything about your child specifically. Usually it means that group, maybe a single grade, a single score band, or a smaller group within your school, has fewer than 10 students in it. Sometimes it means we hid a bigger group alongside a smaller one, so no one could work the smaller one out by subtracting. Either way, you can still see your school's overall enrollment, its combined test results, and how it compares with the district and the state.
Want a number we do not publish?
Researchers and district partners can request data combined across more years or more schools, which often clears the 10-student threshold on its own. Contact the Office of Accountability with what you are trying to answer, and we will tell you what we can and cannot share.
Why staff and student counts do not always match
Teacher counts are not suppressed the way student counts are, because a staff count on its own does not identify a child.
- Licensed instructional staff
- 640
- Classroom teachers
- 578
- Published student-teacher ratio
- 16:1
We publish two staffing numbers because they count different people. Licensed instructional staff includes classroom teachers plus librarians, counsellors, reading specialists, and instructional coaches. The student-teacher ratio uses classroom teachers only, which is the standard way districts report it.
9,240 students divided by 640 instructional staff comes to about 14.4 to 1. The published 16 to 1 uses the 578 classroom teachers among them.
Where these numbers come from
Every number on this site comes from the district's own student information and finance systems, the same records we report to the state. Nothing here is estimated or projected. Each file below is refreshed on its own schedule, shown next to it.
- Enrollment
Updated annually · as of September 30, 2025 count
- Test results
Updated annually · as of 2025-26 school year
- Graduation
Updated annually · as of class of 2026
- Attendance
Updated annually · as of 2025-26 school year
- Staff
Updated annually · as of October 1, 2025 count
- Budget
Updated annually · as of FY2025-26 adopted budget