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Palermo, California - 5 schools
An equity score of 73/100 ranks Palermo Union Elementary #198 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,548 per pupil, Palermo Union Elementary ranks #847 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,186
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$15,548
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Palermo Union Elementary operates 5 public schools serving 1,186 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 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 $15,548 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 13.1% local, 71.8% state, and 15.1% 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 73/100, ranked #198 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 464.2:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 49.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 44.8% White, 39.1% Hispanic or Latino, 2.4% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Helen M. Wilcox Elementary, with a diversity index of 68.0/100.
Its largest campus is Helen M. Wilcox Elementary, enrolling 592 students (44% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Palermo Union Community Day (K-8), at 5 students, a 118x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Helen M. Wilcox Elementary accounts for 44.1% of all Palermo Union Elementary student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Palermo 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.
Palermo Union Elementary school enrollment varies 118× across entities
Palermo Union Elementary school enrollment ranges from 5 students (lowest) to 592 students (highest), a spread of 587 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Palermo Union Elementary has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 73.5% 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.
Palermo Union Elementary student-counselor ratio is 464:1 — 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.
Palermo Union Elementary chronic absenteeism rate is 49.8% — 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.
Palermo Union Elementary has 5 schools, including 4 elementary, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 1,186 students.
How much does Palermo Union Elementary spend per student?
Palermo Union Elementary spends $15,548 per student. The district has an equity score of 73/100, ranking #198 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Palermo Union Elementary?
Palermo Union Elementary students are 44.8% White, 39.1% Hispanic or Latino, 2.4% Asian, 0.5% African American, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Palermo Union Elementary?
Palermo Union Elementary has an equity score of 73/100, ranking #198 out of 1517 districts in California.