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Cardiff-By-the-Sea, California - 2 schools
An equity score of 46/100 ranks Cardiff Elementary #873 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $19,564 per pupil, Cardiff Elementary ranks #259 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
642
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$19,564
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Cardiff Elementary operates 2 public schools serving 642 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 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 San Diego County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $19,564 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 82.0% local, 12.5% state, and 5.5% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 46/100, ranked #873 of 1517 in California against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
and 17.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 65.5% White, 14.0% Hispanic or Latino, 2.4% Asian across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Ada W. Harris Elementary, enrolling 382 students (60% of the district's total enrollment).
Ada W. Harris Elementary accounts for 59.5% of all Cardiff Elementary student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Cardiff Elementary a distant remainder — means Cardiff 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.
Cardiff Elementary chronic absenteeism rate is 17.9% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
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 Variation between sub-units within Cardiff Elementary is typically wider than the Cardiff Elementary-aggregate figure suggests.