North Country Leader

Wells School had the highest enrollment among Hamilton County schools, welcoming 135 students during the 2023-24 academic year, according to the New York State Education Department.

Data also showed that most of the students were white, representing 94.8% of the Wells School's total enrollment.

Among the four schools in Hamilton County, Indian Lake Central School ranked second in enrollment numbers with 121 students, while Lake Pleasant School welcomed 65 students and came in third in the 2023-24 school year.

Wells School is part of Wells Central School District, which roughly covers one school within Hamilton County and has a main office in Wells.

In the previous school year, Wells School also had the highest number of students among Hamilton County schools.

In 2022, New York had roughly one teacher for every 12 students, which is lower than the national average of one teacher for every 16 students. A lower student-to-teacher ratio has been found to improve students' school performance.

New York State has proposed a $45.8 billion education budget for the upcoming fiscal year. This represents a $1.5 billion increase compared to the previous year. The most significant portion of this budget is allocated to schools, with a total of $35.3 billion proposed. The new budget aims at increasing funds for Foundation Aid by $507 million, mainly driven by rising inflation in the U.S.

School name	City	Total School Enrollment
Wells School	Wells	135
Indian Lake Central School	Indian Lake	121
Lake Pleasant School	Speculator	65
Long Lake Central School	Long Lake	59