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Thermal, California - 21 schools
An equity score of 77/100 ranks Coachella Valley Unified #129 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,466 per pupil, Coachella Valley Unified ranks #346 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
16,455
Total Enrollment
21
Schools
$18,466
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Coachella Valley Unified operates 21 public schools serving 16,455 students, placing it in the mid-size range in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 14 elementary, 3 high, 3 middle, 1 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 Riverside County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,466 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 22.5% local, 62.1% state, and 15.5% 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 77/100, ranked #129 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.
Academic infrastructure includes 3 of 21 schools offering Advanced Placement (21 AP courses district-wide), a 427.8:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 50.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 97.6% Hispanic or Latino, 1.1% White, 0.2% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Sea View Elementary, with a diversity index of 13.1/100.
Its largest campus is Coachella Valley High, enrolling 2,300 students (15% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is La Familia Continuation High, at 254 students, a 9x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Coachella Valley Unified school enrollment varies 9.1× across entities
Coachella Valley Unified school enrollment ranges from 254 students (lowest) to 2,300 students (highest), a spread of 2,046 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Coachella Valley Unified has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 85.7% 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.
Coachella Valley Unified student-counselor ratio is 428:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Coachella Valley Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 50.8% — 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.
Coachella Valley Unified has 21 schools, including 3 high, 3 middle, 14 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 16,455 students.
How much does Coachella Valley Unified spend per student?
Coachella Valley Unified spends $18,466 per student. The district has an equity score of 77/100, ranking #129 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Coachella Valley Unified?
Coachella Valley Unified students are 97.6% Hispanic or Latino, 1.1% White, 0.2% African American, 0.2% Asian, averaged across 21 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Coachella Valley Unified?
Coachella Valley Unified has an equity score of 77/100, ranking #129 out of 1517 districts in California.