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Santa Ana, California - 1 schools
An equity score of 55/100 ranks Samueli Academy District #634 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,306 per pupil, Samueli Academy District ranks #1136 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
803
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$14,306
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Samueli Academy District operates 1 public schools serving 803 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined 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 Orange County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,306 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 14.8% local, 78.7% state, and 6.5% 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 #634 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 1 schools offering Advanced Placement (5 AP courses district-wide), a 421:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 18.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 82.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.1% White across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Samueli Academy, enrolling 842 students (100% of the district's total enrollment).
Samueli Academy accounts for 100.0% of all Samueli Academy District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Samueli Academy District a distant remainder — means Samueli Academy District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. 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.
Samueli Academy District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 56.9% 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.
Samueli Academy District student-counselor ratio is 421:1 — 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.
Samueli Academy District chronic absenteeism rate is 18.1% — 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 Samueli Academy District is typically wider than the Samueli Academy District-aggregate figure suggests.
Samueli Academy District has 1 school, including 1 combined. Total enrollment is 803 students.
How much does Samueli Academy District spend per student?
Samueli Academy District spends $14,306 per student. The district has an equity score of 55/100, ranking #634 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Samueli Academy District?
Samueli Academy District students are 82.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.1% White, 1.1% African American, averaged across 1 school. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Samueli Academy District?
Samueli Academy District has an equity score of 55/100, ranking #634 out of 1517 districts in California.