Demographics

Educational Service Units (ESUs) were created in 1965 when the Nebraska legislature passed LB 301 to provide supplementary educational services to local school districts, ensuring equitable education opportunities for all of Nebraska's schools and students. The laws pertaining to Nebraska ESUs are outlined in Nebraska Statute 79-1201 to 79-1249. and accreditation requirements for Nebraska ESUs are outlined in Rule 84. Following a merger that took place in the panhandle to combine ESUs #12, #13 and #14, there are currently 17 ESUs.

The Administration Building in Ainsworth houses administrative and special education staff. It also features a large conference room. The Training Center, located on the eastern edge of Ainsworth, houses core services staff, Nebraska ESU Cooperative Purchasing staff, and has a medium sized conference room in addition to providing a remote office for Northeast Community College (Norfolk). The Valentine Office, which is a rented space, provides a place for special education staff who provide service for Cherry County students. It also has a small conference room.

Educational Service Unit #17 is a rural and sparsely populated area of North Central Nebraska that includes the counties of Brown, Cherry, Keya Paha and Rock. The population is considerably smaller than other ESUs in the state, even though it is geographically proportionate in size (5,631 square miles). This area experienced a 6.7% population decline from 2010-2020. There are 1.16 persons per square mile compared to the Nebraska average of 25.3 persons per square mile. Valentine, the largest city, has a population of 2,626 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. 

Community/School district informational data: Educational Service Unit #17 serves five school districts, the fewest number of school districts of any education service agency in Nebraska with the exception of ESU #18-Lincoln Public Schools and ESU #19-Omaha Public Schools, both of which are metropolitan areas. Cody-Kilgore Unified Schools and Keya Paha County Schools are Class II districts (1,000 or fewer district residents). The remaining are Class III districts (1,000-99,999 district residents).

Valentine Community Schools, at 3,620 square miles, is the largest geographic school district in the state of Nebraska.

Valentine is also the site of a Mid-Plains Community College Extended Campus. Northeast Community College (Norfolk) has a regional office at the ESU #17 Training Center in Ainsworth.

From a statewide perspective, ESU #17 accounts for 7.28% of the land area, 0.70% of the teachers, and 0.48% of the students of the State of Nebraska. Notable variances from Nebraska state average rates include Teachers with Master's Degrees and English Language Learners (lower) and Percentage of White Students and Graduation (higher).

School District Enrollment data: Overall enrollment has declined 2% from 2011-2012 to 2021-2022. 

Besides a steady decline in overall student membership, the other significant demographic factor is the increase in ethnic diversity. The Non White student population has been traditionally less than 10%.

The following data reflects the 2020-2021 Nebraska Education Profile (NEP).