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Lawndale, California - 8 schools
An equity score of 80/100 ranks Lawndale Elementary #92 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $19,470 per pupil, Lawndale Elementary ranks #264 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,563
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$19,470
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Lawndale Elementary operates 8 public schools serving 4,563 students, placing it among the smaller districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 6 elementary, 2 middle schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Los Angeles County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $19,470 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 8.1% local, 75.5% state, and 16.4% 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 80/100, ranked #92 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 360.8:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 35.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 76.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% African American, 5.2% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Lucille J. Smith Elementary, with a diversity index of 47.0/100.
Its largest campus is Will Rogers Middle, enrolling 799 students (19% of the district's total enrollment).
Will Rogers Middle accounts for 17.5% of all Lawndale Elementary student enrollment
That concentration means Lawndale Elementary-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: middle. 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.
Lawndale Elementary school enrollment varies 2.4× across entities
Lawndale Elementary school enrollment ranges from 331 students (lowest) to 799 students (highest), a spread of 468 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.
Lawndale Elementary has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 69.3% 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.
Lawndale Elementary student-counselor ratio is 361:1 — 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.
Lawndale Elementary chronic absenteeism rate is 35.2% — 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.