Dorchester Times: UPDATE: Comparing Per-Pupil Spending Of Area Schools

Sunday, August 16, 2026

UPDATE: Comparing Per-Pupil Spending Of Area Schools

This publication recently reported that Dorchester Public School's annual expenditures have increased 44% over 10 years, from $2.80 million in school year 2015-16 to $4.03 million in school year 2024-25, the latest year available. For comparison, the cumulative increase in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the 2015 annual average to the 2025 annual average was 35.81%.

Increases in K-12 public school spending impact every property owner in the school district — ag, residential, and commercial. Approximately 60% of the average property tax bill in Nebraska goes to local public schools.

Also, keep in mind that Nebraska state government — funded mostly by income and sales taxes — is currently providing substantial property tax relief through state-funded tax credits and direct school aid. This property tax relief can feel nonexistent because the state is largely subsidizing local government rather than holding local decision-makers accountable for approving large increases in taxing or spending. Very few taxpayers attend their local school, county or city board meetings, so accountability often isn't happening there, either.

All this said, we don't think Dorchester school board members — or village officials, for that matter — are being reckless in their spending. They are using the tax base they have been authorized to use to cover the costs of Nebraska's "free public education" mandate, which dates back to 1875.

One of the best ways to gauge how efficiently local public schools are operating is to compare per-pupil expenditures. Statewide, the 2024-25 public school cost per pupil was $17,664, while the annual per-pupil cost at DPS was $23,356.

How does that stack up against area schools?

More than a decade ago, in 2015, the Times compiled a comparison of per-pupil spending for several area schools. Today, we updated our comparison. Schools are listed from the highest spenders to lowest based on the updated figures. Dorchester improved a few spots in this comparison as other schools' per-pupil spending outpaced Dorchester's over the past decade.

Comparing Per-Pupil Costs of Area Schools

School 2013-14 Cost Per Pupil 2024-25 Cost Per Pupil

Bruning-Davenport $27,995 $39,525

Exeter-Milligan $23,769 $36,720

Shickley $22,082 $33,792

Deshler $16,201 $27,715

Diller-Odell $15,948 $26,132

Friend $18,007 $25,903

Meridian $17,468 $25,438

Tri-County $16,366 $24,258

Dorchester $16,911 $23,356

Thayer Central $14,799 $21,016

Fairbury $12,852 $20,996

Fillmore Central $16,068 $20,198

Nebraska Average $11,364 $17,664

Wilber-Clatonia $10,746 $17,526

Crete $11,088 $17,428

Seward $11,487 $16,845

Milford $11,433 $16,795

Freeman $12,143 $16,428

Beatrice $10,491 $15,722

Norris $9,790 $14,078

Perhaps the bigger question presented by this data is: Are Nebraska's smallest schools, when they graduate only 10 or 12 students per senior class for consecutive years, still justifiable?

If so, could steps be taken to drastically lower costs? Could we consolidate special education for a county or region? Could schools lower administrative costs by sharing the highest-compensated personnel?

Our research shows that Iowa, despite having nearly 190,000 more K-12 students than Nebraska, has a lower number of superintendents because many Iowa K-12 districts share superintendents.

After 150 years of mandated public school education, Nebraska needs to make improvements and innovative reforms to a system designed for a different era. That should start at the local level.

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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."