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Gridley, California - 5 schools
An equity score of 55/100 ranks Gridley Unified #631 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,655 per pupil, Gridley Unified ranks #1042 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,035
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$14,655
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Gridley Unified operates 5 public schools serving 2,035 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 Butte County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,655 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 22.3% local, 67.6% state, and 10.2% 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 55/100, ranked #631 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 5 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 310.9:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 28.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 61.8% Hispanic or Latino, 32.4% White, 2.8% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Wilson Elementary, with a diversity index of 55.8/100.
Its largest campus is Gridley High, enrolling 670 students (33% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Esperanza High (Continuation), at 23 students, a 29x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Gridley High accounts for 32.9% of all Gridley Unified student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Gridley 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.
Gridley Unified school enrollment varies 29× across entities
Gridley Unified school enrollment ranges from 23 students (lowest) to 670 students (highest), a spread of 647 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Gridley Unified has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 61.4% 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 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.
Gridley Unified student-counselor ratio is 311:1 — 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 Gridley Unified is typically wider than the Gridley Unified-aggregate figure suggests.
Gridley Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 28.4% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
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 Variation between sub-units within Gridley Unified is typically wider than the Gridley Unified-aggregate figure suggests.