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Buena Park, California - 8 schools
An equity score of 39/100 ranks Centralia Elementary #1043 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,874 per pupil, Centralia Elementary ranks #995 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,129
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$14,874
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Centralia Elementary operates 8 public schools serving 4,129 students, placing it among the smaller districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 8 elementary schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Orange County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,874 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 41.3% local, 46.6% state, and 12.1% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 39/100, ranked #1043 of 1517 in California against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
and 25.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 54.7% Hispanic or Latino, 25.3% Asian, 10.9% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Buena Terra Elementary, with a diversity index of 70.1/100.
Its largest campus is Buena Terra Elementary, enrolling 627 students (16% of the district's total enrollment).
Buena Terra Elementary accounts for 15.2% of all Centralia Elementary student enrollment
That concentration means Centralia 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.
Centralia Elementary has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 52.3% 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 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.
Centralia Elementary chronic absenteeism rate is 25.4% — 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 Centralia Elementary is typically wider than the Centralia Elementary-aggregate figure suggests.