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Chula Vista, California - 1 schools
An equity score of 77/100 ranks Howard Gardner Community Charter District #143 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $20,135 per pupil, Howard Gardner Community Charter District ranks #231 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
239
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$20,135
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Howard Gardner Community Charter District operates 1 public schools serving 239 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary 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 San Diego County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $20,135 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 31.8% local, 51.4% state, and 16.8% 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 #143 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 178:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 47.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 97.2% Hispanic or Latino, 2.2% African American, 0.6% White across the district's schools.
Howard Gardner Community Charter accounts for 74.5% of all Howard Gardner Community Charter District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Howard Gardner Community Charter District a distant remainder — means Howard Gardner Community Charter District-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.
Howard Gardner Community Charter District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 78.7% 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.
Howard Gardner Community Charter District student-counselor ratio is 178:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Howard Gardner Community Charter District chronic absenteeism rate is 47.8% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Howard Gardner Community 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 Howard Gardner Community Charter District?
Howard Gardner Community Charter District has 1 school, including 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 239 students.
How much does Howard Gardner Community Charter District spend per student?
Howard Gardner Community Charter District spends $20,135 per student. The district has an equity score of 77/100, ranking #143 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Howard Gardner Community Charter District?
Howard Gardner Community Charter District students are 97.2% Hispanic or Latino, 2.2% African American, 0.6% White, averaged across 1 school. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Howard Gardner Community Charter District?
Howard Gardner Community Charter District has an equity score of 77/100, ranking #143 out of 1517 districts in California.