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Lancaster, California - 1 schools
An equity score of 89/100 ranks Desert Sands Charter District #13 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $40,182 per pupil, Desert Sands Charter District ranks #26 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
742
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$40,182
Per-Pupil Spending
High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Desert Sands Charter District operates 1 public schools serving 742 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 high 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 Los Angeles County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $40,182 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the top 187 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 10.7% local, 81.3% state, and 7.9% 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 89/100, ranked #13 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.
a 159.8:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 69.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 60.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.6% African American, 11.1% White across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Desert Sands Charter, enrolling 727 students (100% of the district's total enrollment).
Desert Sands Charter accounts for 98.0% of all Desert Sands Charter District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Desert Sands Charter District a distant remainder — means Desert Sands Charter District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. 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.
Desert Sands Charter District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 78.6% 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.
Desert Sands Charter District student-counselor ratio is 160:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 Values this far below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Desert Sands Charter District chronic absenteeism rate is 69.9% — 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 Desert Sands Charter District'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 Desert Sands Charter District?
Desert Sands Charter District has 1 school, including 1 high. Total enrollment is 742 students.
How much does Desert Sands Charter District spend per student?
Desert Sands Charter District spends $40,182 per student. The district has an equity score of 89/100, ranking #13 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Desert Sands Charter District?
Desert Sands Charter District students are 60.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.6% African American, 11.1% White, 0.6% Asian, averaged across 1 school. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Desert Sands Charter District?
Desert Sands Charter District has an equity score of 89/100, ranking #13 out of 1517 districts in California.