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Dos Palos, California - 5 schools
An equity score of 74/100 ranks Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified #177 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $17,187 per pupil, Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified ranks #505 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,283
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$17,187
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified operates 5 public schools serving 2,283 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 high, 2 elementary, 1 middle 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 Merced County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $17,187 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 16.2% local, 64.5% state, and 19.3% 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 74/100, ranked #177 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 1 of 5 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 405:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 35.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 84.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% White, 2.7% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Westside High, with a diversity index of 32.0/100.
Its largest campus is Dos Palos High, enrolling 639 students (28% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Westside High, at 71 students, a 9x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Dos Palos High accounts for 28.0% of all Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified-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.
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified school enrollment varies 9.0× across entities
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified school enrollment ranges from 71 students (lowest) to 639 students (highest), a spread of 568 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.
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 78.0% 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.
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified student-counselor ratio is 405:1 — 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.
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 35.8% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified'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 Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified?
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified has 5 schools, including 2 high, 2 elementary, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 2,283 students.
How much does Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified spend per student?
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified spends $17,187 per student. The district has an equity score of 74/100, ranking #177 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified?
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified students are 84.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% White, 2.7% African American, 0.2% Asian, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified?
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified has an equity score of 74/100, ranking #177 out of 1517 districts in California.