Bill Hefner Elementary

Bill Hefner Elementary is an elementary campus of sizable scale in Fayetteville, North Carolina, one of the schools within Cumberland County Schools, enrolling 712 students in grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 467 students per school, that is 52% larger than typical.

Cumberland County Schools runs 86 schools in total, collectively educating 49,002 students. Bill Hefner Elementary is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Bill Hefner Elementary logs that Black students make up the majority at 57%; the rest breaks down as 16% Hispanic, 13% White, 11% multiracial, 2% Asian. That is meaningfully more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 38%.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 44 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.3:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 14.9:1, putting Bill Hefner Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 94% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Cumberland County (around 86%), the school's rate is north of typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Bill Hefner Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 50.1%, the actual is 43.7%, a residual of -6.4 points.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Cumberland County put median household earnings sit near $61,291, about 28% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 13%. Bill Hefner Elementary is one of 89 public schools in Cumberland County (combined enrollment of about 50,815 students).

The closest other public school is E E Miller Elementary, roughly 1.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Bill Hefner Elementary at 5th of 8; the average score across the group is 47.3%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Bill Hefner Elementary's enrollment has contracted 12% since 2018, when it stood at 810 (now 712). Over the same period, the Black share ticked up from 52% to 57%.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.