Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal
records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our
editorial standards & corrections policy, the
methodology behind these numbers, or
report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Esparto, California - 4 schools
An equity score of 57/100 ranks Esparto Unified #582 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,338 per pupil, Esparto Unified ranks #665 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
954
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$16,338
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Esparto Unified operates 4 public schools serving 954 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 high, 1 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 Yolo County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,338 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 25.5% local, 62.8% state, and 11.7% 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 57/100, ranked #582 of 1517 in California against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (5 AP courses district-wide), a 287:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 35.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 79.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% White, 1.4% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Esparto Middle, with a diversity index of 41.5/100.
Its largest campus is Esparto Elementary, enrolling 454 students (46% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Madison Community High, at 10 students, a 45x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Esparto Elementary accounts for 45.8% of all Esparto Unified student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Esparto Unified a distant remainder — means Esparto Unified-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.
Esparto Unified school enrollment varies 45× across entities
Esparto Unified school enrollment ranges from 10 students (lowest) to 454 students (highest), a spread of 444 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity, the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Esparto Unified has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 62.7% 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). Eligibility here is approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. 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.
Esparto Unified student-counselor ratio is 287:1 — near the typical range (US average ~408) — within the typical range for U.S. public districts
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 Variation between sub-units within Esparto Unified is typically wider than the Esparto Unified-aggregate figure suggests.
Esparto Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 35.7% — 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.