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Lake Isabella, California - 3 schools
An equity score of 76/100 ranks Kernville Union Elementary #149 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $20,354 per pupil, Kernville Union Elementary ranks #217 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
814
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$20,354
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Kernville Union Elementary operates 3 public schools serving 814 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 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 Kern County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $20,354 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 26.4% local, 53.3% state, and 20.3% 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 76/100, ranked #149 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 329.5:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 68.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 68.1% White, 25.5% Hispanic or Latino, 1.2% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Woodrow W. Wallace Elementary, with a diversity index of 48.6/100.
Its largest campus is Woodrow W. Wallace Elementary, enrolling 390 students (51% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Kernville Elementary, at 105 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Woodrow W. Wallace Elementary accounts for 47.9% of all Kernville Union Elementary student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Kernville Union Elementary a distant remainder — means Kernville Union Elementary-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.
Kernville Union Elementary school enrollment varies 3.7× across entities
Kernville Union Elementary school enrollment ranges from 105 students (lowest) to 390 students (highest), a spread of 285 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Kernville Union Elementary has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 71.1% 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.
Kernville Union Elementary student-counselor ratio is 330:1 — 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 Kernville Union Elementary is typically wider than the Kernville Union Elementary-aggregate figure suggests.
Kernville Union Elementary chronic absenteeism rate is 68.2% — 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.
How many schools are in Kernville Union Elementary?
Kernville Union Elementary has 3 schools, including 2 elementary, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 814 students.
How much does Kernville Union Elementary spend per student?
Kernville Union Elementary spends $20,354 per student. The district has an equity score of 76/100, ranking #149 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Kernville Union Elementary?
Kernville Union Elementary students are 68.1% White, 25.5% Hispanic or Latino, 1.2% African American, 0.9% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Kernville Union Elementary?
Kernville Union Elementary has an equity score of 76/100, ranking #149 out of 1517 districts in California.