An equity score of 64/100 ranks Ceres Unified #402 of 1526 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,030 per pupil, Ceres Unified ranks #816 of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
13,894
Total Enrollment
23
Schools
$18,030
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Ceres Unified operates 23 public schools serving 13,894 students, placing it in the mid-size range in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 14 elementary, 4 high, 3 middle, 2 combined schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage 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 Stanislaus County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,030 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 14.4% local, 74.5% state, and 11.1% 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 64/100, ranked #402 of 1526 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.
Academic infrastructure includes 3 of 23 schools offering Advanced Placement (27 AP courses district-wide), a 232.7:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 32.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 79.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% White, 5.8% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Whitmore Charter High, with a diversity index of 62.2/100.
Its largest campus is Central Valley High, enrolling 2,317 students (17% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Ceres Special Education, at 37 students, a 63x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Central Valley High accounts for 16.7% of all Ceres Unified student enrollment
That concentration means Ceres Unified-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade band: high. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how the district allocates programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.
Ceres Unified school enrollment varies 63× across entities
Ceres Unified school enrollment ranges from 37 students (lowest) to 2,317 students (highest), a spread of 2,280 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
The reported share sits between 62.5% and 75%, above a simple majority but below the highest descriptive band used here. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.
Ceres Unified student-counselor ratio is 233:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Ceres Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 32.0% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.