Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal
records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our
editorial standards & corrections policy, the
methodology behind these numbers, or
report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Buttonwillow, California - 1 schools
An equity score of 83/100 ranks Buttonwillow Union Elementary #58 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,506 per pupil, Buttonwillow Union Elementary ranks #342 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
313
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$18,506
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Buttonwillow Union Elementary operates 1 public schools serving 313 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Kern County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,506 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 24.3% local, 58.8% state, and 16.9% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 83/100, ranked #58 of 1517 in California against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
and 59.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 93.8% Hispanic or Latino, 4.5% White, 1.4% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Buttonwillow Elementary, enrolling 288 students (100% of the district's total enrollment).
Buttonwillow Elementary accounts for 92.0% of all Buttonwillow Union Elementary student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Buttonwillow Union Elementary a distant remainder — means Buttonwillow Union Elementary-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Buttonwillow Union Elementary has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 85.3% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Areas above 75% eligibility — including this one — receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Buttonwillow Union Elementary chronic absenteeism rate is 59.7% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Values this far above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Comparisons are relative to Buttonwillow Union Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in California
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Buttonwillow Union Elementary?
Buttonwillow Union Elementary has 1 school, including 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 313 students.
How much does Buttonwillow Union Elementary spend per student?
Buttonwillow Union Elementary spends $18,506 per student. The district has an equity score of 83/100, ranking #58 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Buttonwillow Union Elementary?
Buttonwillow Union Elementary students are 93.8% Hispanic or Latino, 4.5% White, 1.4% African American, averaged across 1 school. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Buttonwillow Union Elementary?
Buttonwillow Union Elementary has an equity score of 83/100, ranking #58 out of 1517 districts in California.