About Lancaster Schools

  • The Lancaster Central School District is situated in the north-central portion of Erie County, about 10 miles east of Buffalo, New York, and encompasses approximately 35 square miles. Easy access to main thruways and highways is within minutes, as is the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.

    The district is located within the town and village of Lancaster, town of Cheektowaga, town of Elma and village of Depew. Significant housing development has resulted in a population increase over recent years; however, the district remains roughly 30 percent developed and much of the village flavor of the community survives.

Schools

Staff

  • 947 Full- and part-time professional and support staff, many of whom are residents and support the local economy

Enrollment and More

  • 5,427 - We educate 5,427 of Lancaster’s children (2020-2021).

    782 - Students enrolled in one of our eight distinctive and national award-winning academy programs.

    99% - Class of 2020 graduation rate

    764 - Total of Advanced Placement (AP) exams taken (2019-2020)

    404 - Total AP students - Highest in school history! (2020-2021)

    78% - of all exams taken received scores of 3 or higher; our students don’t just take the class, they earn credit.

    20 - Dual enrollment courses where students can choose from a wide variety of courses that provide a pathway to earn college credit while concurrently earning high school credit (i.e., dual enrollment). While individual cases may vary, students can often use the credits to reduce tuition costs, upon enrolling in a college.

    Academy Accomplishments (June 2021): Academy of Finance 11th Consecutive Year NAF Distinguished Academy - One of only 3 of NAF’s 700 academies around the nation to have achieved this feat! All Seniors in the Leadership Academy complete the Distinguished Student Leaders program. Lancaster has the second most students in the country out of all high schools who have earned this distinction - over 210 since 2012. About 50% of Academy of Visual and Performing Arts alumni major in a visual or performing art after high school. All former students, no matter their major say the skills they learned benefit them. 5th Consecutive Year - 2021 Best Communities for Music Education.

    For those who don’t thrive in a traditional setting, Lancaster Alternative Program (LAP) is one of two local programs created to serve our students who have not achieved success in the traditional school setting.

    In June 2020 Business First Named Lancaster #11 out of 96 school districts in western New York.

Budget

  • On April 20, 2021, the Lancaster Board of Education adopted a $117.9 million spending plan that maintains all current educational offerings and instructional programs while remaining within the property tax levy cap limits. The budget reflects an increase of 2.99 percent and calls for an estimated tax levy increase of 1.50 percent, 1 percent below this year's maximum levy cap. On May 18, 2021, the proposed budget was approved by district voters. 

    Lancaster CSD ranks as the #2 most cost-effective school district and has the 3rd lowest spending per pupil out of 431 upstate NY districts. (Buffalo Business First)

    Per Pupil Expenditure Comparison Lancaster Central School District $17,781/pupil vs. New York State Average $25,845/pupil. (Based on the latest NYS data)

More Information

  • Athletics

    • Lancaster was declared top in high school sports! (Business First, June 2020)
    • The Legends have attended 18 sectional championships in four years and won 16 sectional titles as of the 2019-2020 school year.
    • Boys soccer, girls bowling, boys ice hockey and varsity rifle are adding to those totals this year.
    • Our girls field hockey coach, Crystal Schunke, was named Section VI Coach of the Year!
    • Boys Cross Country won the ECIC Division I Title, Girls Soccer was a Section VI Class AA finalist, and the Girls Field Hockey Team won the Section VI Class A Title.
    • The Boys Soccer Team was a Class AA Sectional Finalist this past Fall 2020.
    • So far this Winter, Girls Bowling are Division Champions, Boys Ice Hockey are Division Champions, and Varsity Rifle are Division Tri Co-Champions.

    Accomplishments

    • 16th Consecutive Year LHS Student Union achieved Gold Council of Excellence Award from the National Association of Student Councils; one of only 9 in the nation who have received the award since its inception.
    • Recognition as one of the top 100 communities in America for music education;
    • Chromebooks support 21st century learning from prekindergarten through grade 12;
    • Lancaster High School was named a GRAMMY Foundation Signature School;
    • State and nationally recognized master teachers, national class musicians, and publications;
    • Assisted by Lancaster Educational and Alumni Foundation, Inc. (LEAF) www.nyleaf.org.

    Social Media

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/lancastercsd; Twitter: @lancastercsd